<rso 


EAINENT 
MISSIONARY 
VOAEN  -- 

BY  i'-^o  •  c-Nj) .  r-^o 

M^  J-T-GRACEY 


'^                               PRINCETON,    N.  J. 

Purchased  by  the  Hammill   Missionary  Fund. 

BV    3703    .G73    1898 

Gracey,    Annie   Ryder,    1836- 

Eminent  missionary  women 

% 

MARY    LYON 


THESE   ARE   THEY   WHICH    FOLLOW   THE   LAMB 


EMINENT 

Missionary  Women 


MRS.  J.  T.  GRACEY 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTES  BY 

Mrs.  Joseph  Cook  and  Mrs.  S.  L.  Keen 


LIBRARY  OF  PRINCETOW 


SEP  1  6  2003 


THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARl 


NEW  YORK:    EATON  &  MAINS 
CINCINNATI:     CURTS    &    JENNINGS 


Copyright,  1898,  hy 
New  York. 


A   FOREWORD 


THIS  unpretentious  volume  is  the  outgrowth 
of  experience  in  connection  with  current 
missionary  literature  of  many  lands  and  of 
many  societies.  A  great  many  persons,  widely 
separated  from  each  other,  through  a  series  of 
years  have  solicited  information  from  the 
author  about  eminent  missionary  women,  such 
as  could  not  be  found  except  in  fragments  in 
inaccessible  reports  or  other  current  litera- 
ture. 

To  meet  the  want  thus  indicated  this  group 
of  biographical  sketches  has  been  prepared, 
covering  one  or  two  prominent  women  who 
have  been  leaders  or  creators  of  missionary 
sentiment  at  home,  and  typical  women  in  many 
missionary  societies,  with  some  independent 
workers.      It  is  thus  pan-denominational. 

It  also  represents  the  several  classes  of  work 
which  women  have  been  able  to  conduct  on  the 
field — educational,  evangelistic,  literary,  med- 
ical, or  eleemosynary. 

The  volume  is  not  a  contribution  to  hero- 
worship.     The  persons  whose  life  work   is   so 


A   FOREWORD 

briefly  sketched  were  eminently  practical,  sen- 
sitive, devoted,  seeking  not  their  own,  but  ac- 
complishing- their  work  without  publicity  except 
that  required  to  insure  sympathetic  cooperation 
or  to  awaken  inspiration  in  others  for  the  exten- 
sion of  Christ's  kingdom.  Many  of  them  en- 
tered upon  their  work  before  the  Modern 
Woman's  Societies  were  inaugurated,  and  had 
not  the  impulse  of  association  with  a  great 
company  upholding  them  with  Christian  love 
and  prayer. 

In  some  instances  it  has  been  impossible  after 
protracted  research  even  to  ascertain  their  full 

names,  and  they  appear  simply  as  ''  Miss" . 

It  matters  not  if  unrecorded  here;  ''these  are 
they,"  and  their  names  are  ''written  in  the 
Lamb's  book  of  life."  Others  eminent  in  their 
own  achievements  can  be  spoken  of  only  under 
their  husbands'  names,  because  their  Christian 
names  could  not  be  ascertained. 

In  a  few  instances  sketches  have  been  found 
compact  and  complete  enough  to  require  but 
slight  modification  to  adapt  them  to  these 
pages.  The  original  source  has  been  duly 
credited. 

Most  of  the  names  of  persons  whose  lives 
are  sketched  herein,  are  familiar  to  American 
readers ;  but  we  trust  that  the  record  presented 
of  toil,  danger,  loneliness,  endurance,  patience, 


A    FOREWORD 

of  Christian  forbearance  among  strange  people, 
in  climates  hostile  to  health,  and  in  contact  with 
all  forms  of  debasing  heathenism,  may  be  an 
inspiration  to  the  workers  of  the  present  day, 
and  a  source  of  greater  interest  in  efforts  to  up- 
lift the  womanhood  of  the  world,   by  all  w^ho 

may  read  its  pages. 

Annie  Ryder  Gracey. 
Rochester,  N.  Y. 


SALUTATORY 


NOTHING  is  so  stimulating  to  high  endeavor 
and  heroic  action  as  the  record  of  those 
who  have  made  their  ''lives  sublime."  Mrs. 
Gracey  will  win  the  gratitude  of  all  Christian 
women  for  bringing  together  this  constellation 
of  bright  particular  stars,  whose  light  has  not 
only  illumined  the  skies  of  the  New  World,  but 
has  shown  in  the  most  distant  dark  places  of  the 
earth.  No  one  could  be  better  equipped  for 
this  task  than  one  who  has  herself  labored  in 
foreign  fields,  and  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century  has  been  closely  connected  with  the 
foreign  missionary  work  of  the  home  churches. 
The  sketches,  though  brief,  are  as  clear-cut  as 
cameos,  and  make  a  distinct  and  indelible  im- 
pression. The  women  of  the  various  denomi- 
national boards  are  to  be  congratulated  on  this 
addition  to  missionary  literature. 

Mrs.  Joseph  Cook. 

Cliff  Seat,  Ticonderoga,  N.  Y., 
June  27, 


SALUTATORY 


IT  is  sometimes  said  that  to-morrow  is  the  un- 
known, unknowable  land.  It  is  so  near  us 
— a  few  hours'  rest  and  we  shall  be  in  it — but 
we  have  no  knowledge  what  it  may  bring  to  us. 
Yet  all  nature  and  all  life  are  getting  ready  for 
the  consummation  of  the  ye.sterdays.  We  do 
not  clearly  discern  to  what  the  signs  of  the 
times  are  leading  us,  but  we  know  that  the 
increasing  activity  in  missionary  enterprises 
everywhere  portends  some  grand  future  culmi- 
nation. Those  who  are  in  the  advance  of  the 
movement  and  seem  to  have  some  direction  of 
its  lines  welcome  every  fresli  reinforcement  and 
every  new  supply  that  can  strengthen  and  com- 
fort those  in  the  midst  of  the  fighting. 

Much  pioneer  work  has  been  done,  but  more 
remains  to  be  done.  The  enemy  still  holds  far 
the  larger  territory,  and  millions  of  foes  are 
yet  to  be  changed  into  friends.  Many  a  time 
and  oft  a  leader  will  say,  ''Was  ever  a  time  like 
this?"  and  will  need  to  remind  himself  that 
when  God  says,  ''Go  forward"  he  can  open  a 
way  through  the  midst  of  the  sea  and  command 
water  from  the  rock  to  follow  his  children 
through  the  desert. 


SALUTATORY 

We  hail  with  delight  this  chronicle  of  heroic 
patience  and  faith,  and  *we  know  no  one  so 
thoroughly  equipped  for  the  preparation  of  such 
a  record  as  is  our  old  and  valued  friend,  Mrs. 
Annie  Ryder  Gracey.  Having  learned  by  per- 
sonal experience  the  hindrances  and  solaces  that 
come  to  a  missionary  in  a  heathen  country,  and 
by  subsequent  loving  study  made  herself  famil- 
iar with  all  phases  of  missionary  work  in  all 
lands,  and  by  her  skill  as  a  writer,  she  is  emi- 
nently fitted  to  give  us  such  a  review  of  the 
actual  lives  of  these  women  as  will  be  an  anchor 
to  our  faith  and  an  inspiration  to  our  zeal. 

Many  a  timid  heart,  scarcely  understanding 
the  call  of  the  Spirit  to  separate  herself  from 
kindred  and  the  land  of  her  fathers  and  preach 
Christ  in  the  wilderness,  will  learn  the  meaning 
of  the  voice  within,  and  find  courage  to  give  up 
all  for  Christ  as  what  others  have  done  is  un- 
folded before  her  eyes.  Every  missionary  so- 
ciety needs  such  a  book  as  an  encouragement 
to  persevere  in  the  work  undertaken  for  the 
Master's  sake.  It  will  receive  a  warm  welcome 
to  our  homes  and  libraries,  and  we  believe  its 
value  in  educating  the  present  generation  of 
young  missionary  workers  will  prove  the  wis- 
dom of  its  author  in  bringing  it  out  at  this  time. 

Sarah  L.  Keen. 
Philadelphia,  Pa.,  July  i,  1898. 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

Mary  Lyon i 

Mrs.  T.  C.  Doremus lo 

Fidelia  Fiske .    23 

Mrs.  R.  B.  Lyth 38 

Ann    Wilkins 45 

Mary  Louisa   Whately 50 

Melinda   Rankin 58 

Lydia  Mary  Fay 66 

Mary  Briscoe  Baldwin 71 

Mrs.  Bishop  Gobat 78 

Miss   Aldersey 88 

Mrs.  H.  C.  Mullens 92 

Mrs.  Bovven  Thompson ...  10 1 

Sophia  Cooke 106 

Charlotte  Maria  Tucker 1 1 1 

Mary  Reed 121 

Fanny  Jane  Butler,  M.  D 132 

Mrs.  Emma  V.  Day 141 

Madame   Coillard 146 

Mrs.    Hannah   Marshman 154 

xiii 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Harriet  G.  Brittan i6o 

Mrs.  John  Geddie  and  Mrs.  John  Inglis ., 167 

Louisa  H.  Anstey , 175 

Eliza  Agnew 179 

Gertrude  Egede 186 

Mrs.  Murilla  Baker  Ingalls 196 

Beulah  Woolston „ ...  ..o ....  .  202 

Clara  A.  Swain,  M.  D 211 

xiv 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


PAGE 

Mary  Lyon Frontispiece 

Mrs.  R.  B.  Lyth ., 39 

Mary  Louisa  Whately 51 

Mrs.  Bishop  Gobat,  , .    79 

Mrs.  Bowen  Thompson 100 

Fanny  Jane  Butler I33 

Harriet  G.  Brittan 161 

Gertrude  Egede 187 

Clara  A.  Swain,  M.  D 210 

3  XV 


€iiilnetit  l))l$$ionarp  (Uomen 


MARY  LYON 

Preparing  Missionaries 


There  is  nothing  in  the  universe  that  I  fear  but  that  I  shall  not 
know  all  my  duty,  or  shall  fail  to  do  it." 


Mx\RY  LYON  was  born  in  Buckland,  Frank- 
lin County,  Mass.,  February  28,  1797. 
Buckland  is  in  what  has  sometimes  been  called 
the  Alpine  region  of  Massachusetts,  and  the 
site  of  Mary  Lyon's  earliest  home  is  reached  by 
a  "  wild,  winding  way"  through  a  maple  grove 
by  a  carriage  drive  from  the  railway,  or  by  a 
climb  over  a  steep  hill  which  rises  eleven  hun- 
dred feet  above  the  sea.  It  lies  four  miles 
back  from  the  village  road,  and  the  spot  is 
marked  by  a  bronze  tablet,  inscribed  with  her 
name,  inserted  in  a  rocky  ledge. 

She  grew  up,  as  girls  of  the  period  wxre 
wont,  learning  household  arts,  embroidery,  spin- 
ning, now  flax,  now  wool,  or  weaving  or  net- 
ting. Her  school  advantages  were  limited,  but 
she  early  exhibited  great  aptitude  for  study, 
and  at  seventeen  had  entered  upon  her  life  work 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

— teaching.  At  the  age  of  twenty  she  entered 
Sanderson  Academy,  in  Ashfield,  at  first  as  a 
pupil. 

By  birthright  she  was  a  woman  of  large  faith. 
It  was  said  of  her,  ''  Like  the  highborn  in  all 
realms,  in  the  realm  of  faith  she  began  life  at 
the  point  where  the  few  end  and  which  the 
many  fail  to  reach."  The  historian  of  the 
Buckland  church  at  its  centennial  celebration 
in  1885  said:  ''In  all  her  later  schools  here 
she  labored  first  and  most  for  the  conversion 
of  her  scholars.  The  result  was  that  through 
these  scholars  revivals  were  carried  to  the  towns 
around."  It  came  to  pass  that  "  when  minis- 
ters in  the  sanctuary  prayed  for  colleges  they 
prayed,  also,  for  the  school  at  Buckland."  Be- 
sides Ashfield  and  Buckland,  Derry  and,  more 
eminently,  Ipswich  were  the  scenes  of  her  ear- 
lier labors,  and  her  name  is  inseparably  linked 
with  Mount  Holyoke  Seminary.  It  is  most  dif- 
ficult to  realize  that  in  Massachusetts  in  the 
eighteenth  century  women  even  of  well-to-do 
families  were  illiterate.  Until  1790  girls  were 
not  admitted  to  the  public  schools  of  Boston. 
From  1790  until  1822  they  were  allowed  to  at- 
tend in  the  summer  months,  when  there  were 
not  boys  enough  to  fill  the  benches.  Even  the 
town  of  Northampton  at  the  close  of  the  last 
century  voted   ''  not  to  be   at  any  expense  for 


MARY  LYON 

schooling  girls,"  and  four  years  later  they  mod- 
ified this  by  admitting  girls  under  fifteen  years 
of  age  to  the  public  schools  from  May  to  Octo- 
ber. There  were  more  than  one  hundred  col- 
leges for  men  in  tlie  State  of  Massachusetts 
when,  in  1836,  she  granted  the  first  charter  to 
''  a  school  for  the  systematic  higher  education 
of  women."  That  was  Mount  Holyoke  Semi- 
nary, of  which  Mary  Lyon  was  the  heroine  and 
saint.  She  was  the  herald  of  the  principle  that 
* '  education  of  the  daughters  of  the  Church  calls 
as  rightfully  for  the  free  gifts  of  the  Church  as 
does  that  of  her  sons."  Her  appeal  was  in  the 
name  of  religion.  In  a  year  she  had  raised  the 
thirty  thousand  dollars  deemed  requisite  for  her 
adventure,  and  it  was  not  till  then  that  she 
obtained  the  charter  for  the  institution.  A  year 
later  she  announced,  '*  So  far  we  have  been 
enabled  to  accomplish  on  every  point  all  that 
we  have  encouraged  the  public  to  expect." 

Mary  Lyon's  purpose  was  as  philanthropic  as 
her  impulse  was  religious — she  wrought  to  in- 
crease the  usefulness  of  women.  Mount  Holyoke 
was  to  train  women  to  usefulness.  *'  For  eleven 
years  the  institution  created  by  her  power,  or- 
ganized by  her  skill,  and  maintained  through 
all  its  trials  by  her  unfailing  resources  had  been 
under  her  kindly  autocratic  direction."  Miss 
Isabel  Hart  wrote  of  her  thus:    ''  Thoroughness 


1 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH   FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

of  instruction,  firmness  with  gentleness  of  dis- 
cipline, lovingness  of  spirit,  beauty  of  life,  bore 
their  appropriate  fruit  in  the  type  of  woman- 
hood molded  by  her  formative  hands.  But 
peculiarly  what  characterized  her  work  was  her 
insatiate  longing  for  that  outpouring  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  upon  her  pupils  which  would  lead 
to  that  rcQfen crating-  work  in  their  own  hearts 
which  she  felt  was  the  only  true  basis  of  Chris- 
tian character.  Without  this,  at  any  season  and 
in  any  place,  she  felt  her  work  was  incomplete." 
During  the  first  six  years  of  her  seminary  su- 
perintendence at  Mount  Holyoke  not  a  graduate, 
and  one  year  not  a  pupil,  was  left  in  the  school 
without  a  hope  in  Christ.  Another  year  there 
were  only  three.  In  twelve  years  there  were 
sixteen  hundred  pupils  and  more  than  four  hun- 
dred and  sixty  hopeful  conversions. 

The  intense  consecration  of  her  spiritual  na- 
ture, combined  with  her  lofty  intelligence  and 
benevolence,  made  her  essentially  a  missionary, 
and  a  missionary  whose  sympathies  and  whose 
work  could  know  no  geographical  boundaries. 
From  the  first  her  desire  was  to  lay  the  king- 
doms of  the  world  at  the  feet  of  the  Redeemer. 
Her  interest  in  foreign  missions  began  in  child- 
hood with  hearing  of  Carey  and  of  Mills,  and 
grew  with  her  growth  and  with  the  growth  of 
the  American  Board  for  Foreign  Missions.     She 

4 


MARY  LYON 

organized  the  first  missionary  society  in  Buck- 
land,  and  either  in  person  or  by  proxy  visited 
every  house  in  the  town,  canvassing-  for  mem- 
bers and  for  materials  for  work.  Over  sixty 
children  were  enlisted.  Though  the  Woman's 
Board  of  Missions  was  not  organized  till  twenty 
years  after  her  death,  yet  Mrs.  Bowker,  its 
president,  who  received  her  inspiration  for 
missionary  activities  from  Mary  Lyon,  declares 
that  a  vast  deal  of  the  widespread  interest 
in  missions  which  culminated  in  the  organ- 
ization of  that  Woman's  Board  must  be  at- 
tributed to  Mary  Lyon.  Not  only  she  herself 
was  consecrated  to  the  Lord,  but  the  whole  in- 
stitution. The  income  of  Mount  Holyoke  Sem- 
inary was  the  Lord's  money.  She  would  accept 
nothing  but  a  home  in  the  institution  and  two 
hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  year  for  a  salary. 
Even  of  this,  for  several  years  before  her  death, 
nearly  one  half  was  given  away  for  religious 
purposes,  and,  dying,  she  left  property  to  the 
American  Board,  in  reversion,  exceeding  two 
thousand  dollars  in  value.  The  school  itself 
contributed,  in  the  last  seven  years  of  her  life, 
nearly  seven  thousand  dollars  for  foreign  mis- 
sions. 

Mrs.  Stowe,  in  her  history  of  Mount  Holyoke 
Seminary,  says  that  seventeen  at  least  who  had 
been  under  her  instruction  before  she  left  Ips- 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

wich  became  foreign  missionaries.  To  this 
number  were  added  thirty-six  of  her  Holyoke 
pupils — of  whom  two  were  associate  principals, 
and  seven  others  teachers  at  the  seminary — 
and  twelve  other  pupils  of  the  first  twelve  years 
became  teachers  among  the  Indians  in  our 
own  country.  Nineteen  of  these  forty-eight 
did  not  finish  the  seminary  course.  With  one 
exception,  each  senior  class  for  the  first  fifteen 
years  had  one  or  more  representatives  on  the 
foreign  field,  while  those  w^ho  became  wives  of 
home  missionaries  or  teachers  at  the  West  and 
South  are  numbered  by  hundreds. 

One  feature  of  the  seminary  w^as  the  constant 
communication  kept  up  with  those  who  had  gone 
from  the  school  to  missionary  labor,  a  journal  of 
the  school  being  kept  and  copies  of  it  sent  to  them 
in  various  lands.  In  return,  letters  were  received 
in  the  school  from  the  wilds  of  America,  from 
the  islands  of  the  sea,  from  Persia,  India, 
China,  Africa,  and  thus  an  *'  electric  chain  " 
bound  them  to  the  altar  of  a  common  consecra- 
tion. 

Mary    Lyon    died    March    5,    1849,    ^^^   her 

**  works  do  follow  "  her.     Soon  after  her  death 

a  lady,  principal  of  Vassar  College,  wrote:   **  Is 

she  missed?     Scarcely  a  State  in  the  American 

Union  but  contains  those  she  has  trained.    Long 

ere  this,  amid  the  hunting  grounds  of  the  Sioux 

6 


MARY  LYON 

and  the  villages  of  the  Cherokees,  the  tear  of 
the  missionary  has  wet  the  page  that  has  told  of 
Miss  Lyon's  departure.  The  Sandwich  Islander 
will  ask  why  is  his  white  teacher's  eye  dim  as 
she  reads  her  American  letters.  The  swarthy 
African  will  lament  with  his  sorrowing  guide, 
who  cries,  '  Help,  Lord ;  for  the  godly  man 
ceaseth !  '  The  cinnamon  groves  of  Ceylon  and 
the  palm  trees  of  India  overshadow  her  early- 
deceased  pupils,  while  those  left  to  bear  the 
burden  and  heat  of  the  day  will  wail  the  saint 
whose  prayers  and  letters  they  so  prized. 
Among  the  Nestorians  of  Persia  and  at  the  base 
of  Mount  Olympus  will  her  name  be  breathed 
softly,  as  the  household  name  of  one  whom  God 
hath  taken." 

Miss  Lyon  was  interred  on   the   Mount  Hol- 
yoke  Seminary  grounds.    The  monument  erected 
over  the  spot  bears  the  following  inscriptions : 
MARY  LYON, 

THE    FOUNDER    OF 

MOUNT    HOLYOKE    FEMALE    SEMINARY, 

AND 

FOR   TWELVE    YEARS    ITS    PRINCIPAL. 

A   TEACHER    FOR   THIRTY-FIVE    YEARS 

AND 

OF    MORE    THAN    THREE    THOUSAND    PUPILS. 

BORN    FEBRUARY    28TH,     1 79/. 

DIED    MARCH    5TH,     1 849. 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 
On  the  north  side : 

"  Give  her  of  the  fruit  of  her  hands,  and  let  her  own  works  praise 
her  in  the  gates." 

On  the  south  side : 

"  Servant  of  God,  well  done  ; 

Rest  from  thy  loved  employ  ; 
The  battle  fought,  the  victory  won, 

Enter  thy  Master's  joy." 

On  the  east  side  the  trustees  directed  to  be 
placed  her  own  emphatic  words  : 

"  There  is  nothing  in  the  universe  that  I  fear  but  that  I  shall  not 
know  all  my  duty,  or  shall  fail  to  do  it." 

What  Rev.  Dr.  Cuyler  wrote  after  the  gradu- 
ating exercises  of  Mount  Holyoke  Seminary  in 
1879  l^^s  been  epitomized  by  Mrs.  John  Douglas, 
in  her  Life  Story  of  Mary  Lyon,  as  follows : 

''  Her  body  has  been  resting  in  yonder  grove 
for  more  than  thirty  years,  but  she  was  the 
pioneer  of  the  highest  education  for  American 
women.  That  crown  belongs  to  her.  Others, 
like  Harriet  Osmer,  have  handled  the  chisel ; 
like  Maria  Mitchell,  the  telescope;  and  the  pen, 
like  Mrs.  Stowe,  but  the  life  of  Mary  Lyon  was 
an  epic — an  added  verse  to  the  eleventh  chapter 
of  Hebrews.  She  was  a  heroine.  Not  only 
did  she  teach  her  pupils  the  higher  branches  of 
literature,  but  she  taught  to  labor  and  to  pray, 
*  to  suffer  and  be  strong.'  Scores  of  pastors' 
wives  have  been  trained  at  Holyoke,  and  more 


MARY  LYON 

than  seventy  foreign  missionaries  have  already 
gone  from  her  classes. 

**  So  many  wives  and  daughters  of  mission- 
aries were  present  that  it  almost  seemed  like  a 
meeting  of  the  American  Board,  and  all 
through  the  halls  and  art  galleries  was  breathed 
a  gladsome  spiritual  atmosphere.  ...  I  stood  by 
her  monument — a  plain  block  of  marble.  I  read 
the  inscriptions,  and  thought  of  the  motto  she 
used  to  give  to  her  graduating  classes :  '  When 
you  choose  your  fields  of  labor  go  where  nobody 
else  is  willing  to  go.'  What  a  seed-corn  that  is 
for  holy  consecration  to  Christ !  It  has  germi- 
nated into  some  of  the  noblest  lives  which 
America  has  furnished.  As  I  stood  there  I  felt 
the  same  thrill  as  when  I  stood  by  the  historic 
haystack  where  the  American  Board  was  born." 


THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

MRS.  T.  C.  DOREMUS 

"  Her  life  is  her  eulogy." 


"  Yet  speakelh  !     By  that  consecrated  life, 
The  single-hearted,  noble,  true,  and  pure, 

Which,  lifted  far  above  all  earthly  strife, 
Could  all  but  sin  so  patiently  endure — 

O  Eloquence  ! — by  this  she  speaketh  yet : 

For  who  that  knew  and  loved  her  could  forget  ? 


ON  a  bright  and  beautiful  Sabbath  morning 
in  the  month  of  May,  1868,  the  steamer 
City  of  Paris  ?c^r\vQ^  in  New  York,  having  among 
her  passengers  a  missionary  and  his  family  re- 
turning from  India.  Among  the  first  persons 
to  board  the  steamer  was  a  lady  tall  in  figure, 
somewhat  bent  in  form,  with  hair  of  silvery 
whiteness,  and  a  face  with  sweet  and  saintly  ex- 
pression. This  was  the  subject  of  our  sketch, 
and  she  was  there  to  welcome  the  missionary 
and  his  family  after  an  absence  of  seven  years 
from  home  and  native  land.  In  our  distant 
home  in  India  we  had  received  many  a  kind  and 
encouraging  word  from  her  pen,  and  substantial 
aid  for  carrying  on  the  work  among  the  women, 
but  had  never  looked  upon  her  dear  face  until 
that  hour ;  and  to  her  loving  care  we  made  an 
unconditional  surrender.  Passing  the  custom 
house   officer  she  simply  said,  ''These  are  my 


MRS.  T.  C.  DOREMUS 

friends,  missionaries  from  India;  they  have 
nothing  contraband;"  and  passing  out,  we  were 
put  into  her  carriage  and  driven  to  the  home  of 
our  friends.  What  she  did  for  us  was  only 
what  she  had  done  for  many  other  returning 
missionaries. 

It  is  a  very  difficult  matter  to  analyze  the  life 
of  one  you  have  known  and  loved,  particularly 
when  that  life  is  very  symmetrical  and  complete. 
Mrs.  Doremus'slife  in  any  aspect — intellectually, 
socially,  or  religiously — is  a  lesson  and  a  treasure 
to  the  women  of  any  country ;  for  the  wise  may 
be  wiser  and  the  good  better  by  considering  it. 
There  is  only  one  solution  of  it :  her  whole  na- 
ture and  all  its  possibilities  were  at  the  bidding 
of  a  Master  whom  she  loved,  and  in  whose  serv- 
ice she  was  spent. 

She  was  born  well.  Her  parents  were  among 
the  most  honored  families  of  the  city  of  New 
York,  and  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church. 
In  her  early  childhood  they  removed  to  Eliza- 
beth, N.  J.,  where  she  grew  up  under  the  train- 
ing of  one  of  the  noblest  of  Christian  mothers, 
a  woman  of  saintly  excellence.  In  1821  she 
married  a  Christian  merchant  of  New  York  and 
returned  to  that  city,  where  she  spent  the  re- 
mainder of  her  life.  She  was  a  communicant  of 
the  Reformed  Dutch  Church,  but  she  belonged  to 
all  Churches,  to  all  Christians.     She  was  in  the 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

truest  sense  cultivated ;  having  a  culture  that 
had  its  springs,  not  only  in  family  and  educa- 
tion, but  in  a  full  and  pure  surrender  of  her  life 
to  Christ  and  his  work.  She  was  rooted  and 
grounded  in  faith ;  she  searched  and  found  the 
Rock,  and  her  feet  were  firmly  placed  upon  it  and 
her  foundations  were  sure  as  the  everlasting  hills. 
Her  benevolence  was  as  broad  as  her  sympathies ; 
not  limited  to  rank  or  intelligence,  creed  or 
character.  She  loved  all  and  helped  all.  She  did 
not  live  in  herself  or  for  herself.  God  and  his  chil- 
dren, their  sorrows  and  their  burdens,  and  how 
she  might  help  lift  them,  filled  her  soul. 

Possibly  no  woman  in  our  country  has  left  her 
mark  more  distinctly.  She  was  a  woman  of 
strong  and  independent  mind.  With  her  work 
meant  work.  Her  greatest  happiness  was  in 
making  others  happy,  though  it  often  involved 
trouble  to  herself.  She  would  rather  have  gone 
forth  with  Martha  to  meet  Jesus  than  to  have  sat 
in  the  house  with  Mary. 

It  is  her  connection  with  foreign  missions  with 
which  we  are  more  particularly  interested.  Mrs. 
Doremus  received  her  first  interest  in  the  cause 
of  foreign  missions  as  a  child  when  her  mother 
would  take  her  to  meetings  held  by  herself  and  a 
few  Christian  friends  to  pray  for  the  conversion 
of  the  world. 

She  was,  without  doubt,  one  of  the  most  in- 

12 


MRS.  T.  C.  DOREMUS 

telligent  women  of  her  time  on  missionary  sub- 
jects. As  interest  in  foreign  mission  work 
developed,  and  organizations  were  formed  in 
the  churches,  she  threw  her  heart  and  soul  into 
it,  and  it  was  her  delight  to  serve  the  cause  and 
the  missionaries.  Facilities  for  procuring  or 
purchasing  ready-made  clothing  were  not  then 
what  they  are  now,  and  the  ladies  of  various 
congregations  met  together  to  prepare  outfits  for 
missionaries.  Many  of  these  were  prepared  in 
her  own  home,  the  material  freely  given  and 
cut  out  by  her  own  skillful  fingers.  Then,  as  a 
missionary's  departure  in  those  days  meant  a 
long  voyage  of  months,  sometimes  in  wretchedly- 
furnished  ships,  often  has  she  not  only  gone  to 
Boston — the  usual  place  of  embarkation — and 
fitted  up  the  miserable  cabins  with  comforts  for 
the  voyage,  but  with  her  own  hands  made  tempt- 
ing delicacies  to  sustain  the  messengers  of  Jesus, 
whom,  for  his  sake,  she  took  into  her  great 
heart,  regardless  of  denomination.  Her  broad 
catholic  spirit  knew  no  sect,  no  dividing  lines. 
They  all  melted  away  in  the  light  of  the  truth 
she  loved  and  lived  by — the  oneness  of  all  be- 
lievers in  Christ. 

In  1828  the  sympathies  of  our  country  were 
stirred  for  Greece,  so  outraged  by  the  Turks. 
Mrs.  Doremus,  hearing  of  the  necessities  of  the 
Greek  ladies,  with  several  friends  organized  a 

13 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH   FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

band  to  work  for  their  relief.  Dr.  Jonas  King 
was  invited  to  go  to  Athens  as  their  representa- 
tive, taking  large  supplies. 

In  1835  she  became  interested  in  Mme.  Fel- 
ler's Baptist  Mission  at  Grande  Ligne,  Canada. 
In  aid  of  this  a  society  was  formed  in  New  York, 
of  which  she  was  president.  Many  were  the 
boxes  of  school  apparatus,  delicacies,  and  useful 
stores  which  were  sent  regularly  to  cheer  the 
hearts  of  those  in  that  isolated  and  needy  mis- 
sion. 

In  1834  the  Rev.  David  Abeel,  returning  from 
his  mission  in  the  East,  had  determined  to  arouse 
Christian  women  to  their  duty  to  rescue  heathen 
women  from  degradation.  He  organized  in 
England  the  Society  for  Promoting  Female  Ed- 
ucation in  the  East,  from  which  the  Union  So- 
ciety has  taken  its  model.  He  attempted  to  ac- 
complish a  similar  work  in  this  country.  Mrs. 
Doremus  entered  into  the  plans  with  great  zeal, 
but  the  opposition  of  existing  boards  made  it 
expedient  to  postpone  the  organization.  The 
time  had  not  come.  The  women  of  the  churches 
were  not  ready  for  it.  Sufficient  knowledge  of 
the  condition  of  Eastern  women  had  not  reached 
the  Christian  women  of  America  for  them  to 
have  their  hearts  touched  and  aroused  to  action. 
A  quarter  of  a  century  passed,  and  the  way  was 
being  prepared  for  some  connected  action.     Mis- 

14 


MRS.  T.  C.  DOREMUS 

sionaries  pleaded  for  help.  Influence  had  been 
exerted  by  missionaries  abroad  and  by  those  re- 
turning home.  About  1859  <^i'  i860  Mrs.  Mason,  a 
missionary  of  Burmah,  visited  this  country  and 
told  the  story  of  the  woes  and  wants  of  heathen 
women,  anxious  to  awaken  an  interest  among 
American  women  in  their  behalf.  These  ap- 
peals resulted  in  the  formation  of  the  Woman's 
Union  Missionary  Society.  This  society  em- 
braced all  evangelical  denominations  of  Chris- 
tian women,  and  it  worked  independently  of 
church  boards.  Its  direct  object  was  to  form 
an  agency  whereby  unmarried  women  might  be 
sent  abroad  as  teachers  and  missionaries  to  enter 
the  hoijies  and  carry  the  Gospel  to  those  who 
could  not  receive  it  in  any  other  way. 

This  undertaking  was  a  great  experiment,  and 
it  needed  the  wisest  and  most  judicious  admin- 
istration. The  women  of  the  churches  were 
to  be  brought  together,  collections  so  made  as 
not  to  interfere  with  existing  organizations,  gen- 
eral missionary  intelligence  disseminated,  and  a 
missionary  enthusiasm  enkindled  all  over  the 
country,  if  the  venture  was  to  be  successful. 

Naturally  and  wisely  Mrs.  Doremus  was  elected 
the  president  of  this  organization.  She  threw 
her  life  and  soul  into  the  work.  She  was  ubiq- 
uitous. With  personal  presence  and  with  pen 
she  inspired  everyone  with  her  own  zeal  and 
3  15 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

devotion.  Her  beautiful  home  in  New  York  was 
the  headquarters  of  the  society.  Every  mission- 
ary appointed  was  her  special  charge.  She  not 
only  welcomed  them  to  her  home,  but,  when 
strangers  to  the  city,  gave  them  every  oppor- 
tunity of  seeing  places  and  people  of  note.  Then, 
when  they  left  this  country  or  returned,  how  ten- 
der was  her  parting  or  welcome !  How  many 
touching  tokens  of  personal  consideration  she 
surrounded  them  with !  In  her  correspondence 
with  them  she  carefully  avoided  business  details 
as  far  as  possible,  but  wrote  as  a  mother  might 
have  done.  She  would  glean  items  of  daily  in- 
terest and  sketches  of  lectures  to  send  them,  that 
something  fresh  from  their  native  land  might 
give  variety  to  their  lives  of  arduous  toil.  No 
event  of  public  importance  transpired  that  she 
did  not  send  copies  of  newspapers  to  all  the  sta- 
tions. Then  she  was  always  on  the  outlook  for 
inspiring  books,  which  she  sent  to  them  by  mail, 
feeling  that  all  that  cheered  their  lives  would 
strengthen  them  for  duty. 

For  fifteen  years  she  held  the  position  of  presi- 
dent of  the  society.  She  loved  it,  nurtured  it, 
prayed  for  it,  and  saw  it  grow  and  develop — 
and  saw  also  one  denomination  after  another  get 
strength  sufficient  to  organize  independently. 
She  saw  the  beginning,  but  who  can  foresee  the 
grand  result?     After  thirty  years  the  united  an- 


MRS.  T.  C.  DOREMUS 

nual  contributions  of  the  various  women's  socie- 
ties of  America  amounted  to  the  magnificent 
sum  of  one  and  one  half  millions  of  dollars. 

It  was  in  1861  that  Mrs.  Doremus  became  the 
link  connecting  the  Union  Society  with  our 
Methodist  women.  In  the  early  history  of  our 
Methodist  Mission  in  North  India  work  was  at- 
tempted among  women  and  girls,  but  the  need 
was  felt  of  special  help  to  prosecute  the  work 
more  fully.  Soon  after  the  writer  arrived  in  In- 
dia a  letter  was  received  from  Mrs.  Doremus 
stating  the  fact  of  the  organization  of  the 
Woman's  Union  Missionary  Society,  and  en- 
closing a  check  for  fifty  dollars  for  the  employ- 
ment of  some  native  Christian  woman  as  Bible 
reader  or  teacher.  This  w^as  the  first  donation 
made  for  distinctive  woman's  work  in  the  North 
India  Conference. 

Before  me  lies  a  note  penned  by  the  hand  of 
Mrs.  Doremus  in  1864,  in  which  she  inclosed 
the  annual  remittance.  The  kindly  sympathiz- 
ing words  always  accompanied  the  money. 
In  this  note  she  says : 

* '  You  have  my  warmest  love  and  sympathy 
in  your  missionary  work  .  .  .  I  inclose  the  check, 
and  wish  it  w^ere  ten  times  more." 

This  remittance  came  regularly  each  year,  and 
when,  in  1867,  the  writer  left  India  it  was  made 
over  to  one  of  our  ladies  in  Lucknow,  and  aided 

17 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

greatly  in  carrying  on  work  in  that  important 
but  bigoted  city.  This  was  the  beginning  of 
a  work  in  India  that  now  receives  annually  an  ap- 
propriation of  about  seventy  thousand  dollars. 

WORK    IN    HOME    CHARITIES. 

Not  often  is  a  Christian  w^oman  permitted  to 
see  the  germs,  planted  in  faith,  grow  up  within  a 
lifetime  into  overshadowing  institutions  of  heal- 
ing for  soul  and  body,  but  many  such  ow^e  their 
origin  to  her  patient  labors  and  far-reaching  in- 
fluence. Winning  by  her  life  the  highest  con- 
fidence of  the  community,  means  and  facilities 
to  a  remarkable  extent  were  placed  at  her  dis- 
posal, and  in  this  way  her  efficiency  was  multi- 
plied a  hundredfold.  The  work  she  accomplished 
in  New  York  city  alone  was  enough  to  engage 
the  time  and  thoughts  of  any  ordinary  woman. 
She  began  a  vSabbath  service  in  the  city  prison 
from  which  was  developed  the  Women's  Prison 
Association,  with  w^hich  she  was  connected  for 
more  than  thirty  years.  For  thirty-six  years 
she  was  a  manager  of  the  City  and  Tract  ]\Iis- 
sion  Society,  and  for  twenty-eight  years  a  man- 
ager of  the  City  Bible  Society.  She  was  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  House  and  School  of  Indus- 
try, and  for  twenty-three  years  was  connected 
with  the  Nursery  and  Child's  Hospital,  which 
she  aided  in  foundino-. 


MRS.  T.  C.  DOREMUS 

In  1855  she  bent  her  energies  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Woman's  Hospital,  the  first  institu- 
tion of  this  character  in  the  world.  To  this  she 
devoted  time  and  personal  sacrifice,  went  repeat- 
edly to  Albany  to  secure  its  charter  and  State  ap- 
propriation, and  collected  large  sums  for  it.  She 
visited  the  patients  regularly,  cheered  them, 
gave  them  spiritual  comfort,  and  followed  them 
with  her  ministrations  after  they  left.  She  as- 
sisted in  organizing,  also,  the  Presbyterian 
Home  for  Aged  Women.  During  our  civil  war 
she  was  most  active  in  work  for  our  soldiers. 

Much  of  what  she  accomplished  was  due  to  a 
very  rare  combination  of  endowments.  She  had 
power  to  lay  great  plans  and  organize  grand 
movements,  a  marvelous  memory,  and  a  talent 
for  details.  Nothing  was  too  trivial  to  be  made 
use  of  if  it  would  aid  in  perfecting  the  organiza- 
tion, and  to  her  latest  day  her  memory  was  true 
to  its  trust  for  dates  and  incidents,  every  one  ac- 
curate and  thoroughly  at  her  command,  and  all 
used  for  the  benefit  and  comfort  of  others. 

If  we  turn  from  her  activities  in  mission 
work  to  the  sanctuary  of  her  home,  we  find  the 
devoted  wife  and  mother.  Home  was  the  scene 
of  her  tender  and  loving  care.  The  mind  that 
could  have  ruled  a  kingdom  gave  its  best  ener- 
gies to  her  family.  She  lived  with  her  children, 
painting,  designing  her  own   patterns  for  em- 

19 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

broidery,  modeling  in  wax,  and  excelling  in  all 
the  accomplisliments  of  her  day.  Nothing  was 
ever  allowed  to  interfere  with  her  high  and  holy 
home  duties.  To  her  own  family  of  nine  chil- 
dren she  was  all  that  a  mother  could  be.  In  ad- 
dition to  these  she  adopted  children  into  her 
heart  and  home,  caring  for  them  and  securing 
means  for  their  education. 

From  the  very  beginning  of  her  Christian  life 
her  many  beautiful  gifts,  her  rare  intelligence, 
her  dauntless  will,  all  were  consecrated  to  the 
service  of  her  Redeemer,  and  thenceforth,  trans- 
fused by  his  Spirit,  were  quickened  into  ever- 
brightening  emanations  of  loving  activities.  But 
there  came  a  time  when  these  tireless  lovinof 
ministrations  must  cease ;  when  the  busy  brain 
must  stop  ;  when  she  should  hear  the  summons : 
''  It  is  enough.  Come  up  higher."  Prostrated 
by  an  accident  in  her  own  home  in  January, 
1877,  she  suffered  for  a  week,  and  then  was 
translated  to  see  Him  of  whom  Moses  in  the  law 
and  the  prophets  did  write — the  King ;  the  One 
whom  she  loved  and  for  whom  she  had  toiled. 

There  was  sorrow  in  hearts,  in  homes,  and  in 
churches  as  the  news  of  her  death  spread,  not 
only  in  this  country,  but  throughout  the  world, 
for  there  was  scarcely  a  mission  field  where  she 
was  not  lovingly  known.  Missionaries  felt  that 
they  had  lost  one  of  their  best  friends. 


MRS.  T.  C.  DOREMUS 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Tyng  said,  in  his  address  at  her 
funeral:  ''Mrs.  Doremus  seems  to  have  given 
the  whole  of  herself  to  the  Lord ;  the  whole  of 
herself  to  the  Church ;  the  whole  of  herself  to 
every  suffering  heart  she  met,  and  yet  the  whole 
of  herself  to  home  and  children." 

Dr.  Prime  said :  "I  never  felt  the  power  of 
goodness  as  I  have  felt  it  exemplified  in  the 
walk  and  life  of  that  noble  woman.  I  have  the 
memoirs  in  my  library  of  nearly  three  thousand 
women — in  dictionaries,  encyclopedias,  and  sep- 
arate volumes — distinguished  in  many  ages  for 
deeds  that  have  made  their  names  illustrious  in 
the  annals  of  time.  Among  them  there  is  not  one 
— no,  not  one — whose  record  is  more  bright  and 
beautiful  in  the  light  of  heaven  than  hers.  .  .  . 
I  never  found  in  marble  or  on  canvas,  in  history 
or  in  poetry,  one  that  embodied  the  idea  of  use- 
fulness so  perfectly  as  it  w^as  presented  in  the 
life  work  of  our  sainted  friend." 

Dr.  Ormiston  said:  "It  would  seem  to  me 
that  it  pleased  God  to  give  her  personally  the 
choicest  gifts  and  rarest  graces  that  she  might 
show  to  what  an  altitude  of  beauty  womanhood 
in  Christ  can  rise,  and  manifest  the  perfection 
of  Christian  service,  which  was  triumphant,  even 
to  the  end." 

Resolutions  were  passed  by  various  mission- 
ary and  other  societies,   but  none   were  more 

21 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

liearty  and  appreciative  than  those  of  the 
General  Executive  Committee  of  the  Woman's 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  which  paid  an  ''affectionate 
and  reverential  tribute  to  her  memory"  as 
one  ''known  and  honored,  not  only  as  the 
originator  of  the  Woman's  Union  Missionary 
Society  in  this  country,  but  as  one  of  the  most 
beautiful  specimens  of  Christian  womanhood 
and  intense  devotion  to  Christian  work  that  has 
adorned  the  century,  her  name  being  as  oint- 
ment poured  forth,  filling  all  churches  and  all 
lands  with  its  perfume." 

The  Woman's  Union  Missionary  Society  has 
perpetuated  her  name  in  Calcutta,  India,  by 
calling  their  home  the  "  Doremus  Home,"  but 
she  lives  to-day  in  the  hearts  of  thousands  of 
Christian  people,  not  only  in  this  land,  but  in 
all  lands ;   her  name  is  as  ointment  poured  forth. 

Her  daily  prayer  was,  "  Lord,  what  wilt  thou 
have  me  to  do?  "  We  can  offer  the  same,  and, 
though  not  having  the  diversity  of  gifts  that  this 
consecrated  woman  had,  we  can  do  our  part 
in  helping  the  oncoming  of  our  Redeemer's 
kingdom. 

22 


FIDELIA  FISKE 


FIDELIA  FISKE 


Prayer  was  her  "  vital  breath,"  her  "  native  air.' 


REV.  DR.  ANDERSON,  for  many  years 
Secretary  of  the  American  Board  for 
Foreign  Missions,  in  his  Oriental  Missions  says 
of  Fidelia  Fiske :  *'  She  seemed  to  me  the  near- 
est approach  I  ever  saw,  in  man  or  woman,  in 
the  structure  and  working  of  her  whole  nature, 
to  my  ideal  of  our  blessed  Saviour  as  he  ap- 
peared on  earth." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Kirk,  who  spoke  at  her  funeral, 
said:  "  I  wish  to  speak  carefully,  but  I  am  sure 
I  can  say  I  never  saw  one  who  came  nearer  to 
Jesus  in  self-sacrifice.  If  ever  there  should  be 
an  extension  of  the  eleventh  chapter  of  He- 
brews, I  think  that  the  name  of  Fidelia  Fiske 
would  stand  there." 

One  of  her  associates  writing  from  Persia 
said  :  ''  She  was  our  beloved  Persis  who  labored 
much  in  the  Lord ;  in  charity  our  Dorcas ;  in 
counsel  and  action  our  Deborah ;  in  prayer  our 
Hannah;  our  Phoebe,  the  succorer  of  many; 
and  now  our  sainted  Fidelia  the  faithful." 

These  are  remarkable  testimonies,  coming  as 
they  do  from  such  sources.  The  complete  de- 
votion of  Miss  Fiske  to  her  work,  her  spiritual 

23 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

power,  her  marvelous  ability  to  influence  those 
about  her,  and  her  overcoming  faith,  have 
seldom,  if  ever,  been  equaled  in  the  records  of 
missionary  work.  Hers  was  most  emphatically, 
and  in  every  sense,  a  "  life  hid  with  Christ  in 
God."  She  led  a  life  of  prayer,  and  carried 
about  her  an  atmosphere  that  showed  she  was 
in  constant  communion  with  the  Father. 

Early  in  life  she  became  interested  in  mis- 
sionary work  through  the  influence  of  a  relative 
who  was  in  the  foreign  field,  and  the  subject  of 
missions  was  a  constant  topic  of  conversation  in 
the  family.  This  feeling  of  interest  became 
greatly  intensified  during  her  connection  with 
Mount  Holyoke  Seminary.  Here  she  studied, 
and  afterward  taught,  partaking  largely  of  the 
spiritual  and  missionary  character  of  its  founder, 
Mary  Lyon.  A  missionary  who  returned  to 
this  country  from  Persia  visited  Mount  Holyoke 
and  made  an  urgent  request  for  a  teacher,  and 
Fidelia  said,  "If  counted  worthy,  I  shall  be 
willing  to  go."  After  overcoming  many  and 
serious  difficulties  she  sailed,  in  company  with 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Perkins,  in  March,  1843,  and 
reached  Oroomiah  in  the  following  June. 

Miss  Fiske  was  not  a  pioneer  in  missionary 
work  in  Persia,  but  she  was  the  first  unmarried 
woman  to  enter  that  field,  and  she  adapted  her- 
self at  once  to  the  situation.     The  missionaries 

24 


FIDELIA  FISKE 

had  borne  the  privations  and  hardships  incident 
to  the  occupancy  of  a  new  and  most  trying-  field. 
They  had  secured  the  favor  of  an  intolerant  gov- 
ernment and  the  confidence  of  a  degraded  and 
depressed  people.  Mrs.  Dr.  Grant,  a  woman  of 
fine  intellect  and  rare  acquirements,  prepared 
the  way  for  woman's  work,  and  created  a  senti- 
ment in  favor  of  woman's  education.  When 
the  missionaries  reached  Persia  in  1835,  there 
was  only  one  woman,  the  sister  of  a  Nestorian 
patriarch,  in  the  city  of  Oroomiah  who  could 
read.  Mrs.  Grant  did  not  rest  until  she  had 
opened  a  school  for  girls. 

Up  to  the  time  of  Miss  Fiske's  arri\"al,  how- 
ever, only  a  few  girls  were  obtainable,  and  those 
were  day-scholars.  She  was  exceedingly  anxious 
to  make  this  a  boarding-school,  so  as  to  have 
pupils  removed  from  the  evil  influences  sur- 
rounding them  in  their  homes.  But  this  idea 
was  not  according  to  Nestorian  ideas  of  pro- 
priety, and  the  missionaries  doubted  the  success 
of  the  measure.  Writing  to  a  friend  at  this 
time  Miss  Fiske  said  : 

' '  The  first  Syriac  word  I  learned  was  daughter y 
and  the  next  the  verb  to  give,  so  I  learned  to  say 
to  the  people,  '  Give  me  your  daughters.'  " 

The  Nestorians  were  poor,  subjects  of  a  most 
despotic  government,  and  their  women  fear- 
fully degraded.      It  was  counted  a  disgrace  for 

25 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

a  woman  to  learn  to  read.  Early  marriage  ob- 
tained. Men  beat  their  wives,  and  the  women 
knew  nothing  of  a  better  life.  They  were 
shockingly  profane,  given  to  falsehood,  coarse, 
passionate,  quarrelsome.  No  wonder  when  Miss 
Fiske  saw  what  they  were  she  should  write 
home,  '*  I  felt  pity  for  the  women  before  going 
among  them,  but  anguish  when,  from  actual 
contact  with  them,  I  realized  how  low  they 
were,  I  did  not  want  to  leave  them,  but  I  did 
ask.  Can  the  image  of  Christ  ever  be  reflected 
from  such  hearts?" 

However,  notwithstanding  the  discouraging 
outlook,  preparations  were  made  for  opening 
the  school,  and  when  the  day  came  not  one 
pupil  had  been  obtained.  But  the  day  wore  on, 
and  the  Nestorian  bishop  came,  bringing  two 
girls.  "  These  be  your  daughters;  no  man  take 
them  from  you,"  was  his  salutation.  Soon 
the  number  increased.  These  girls  were  un- 
tutored and  uncombed.  The  very  first  lessons 
in  personal  cleanliness  had  to  be  taught  them, 
and  in  all  morals  it  was  necessary  to  begin  at 
the  very  foundations  in  order  to  renovate  such 
characters. 

Miss  Fiske  had  difficulties  to  overcome  that 

we  can   scarcely    comprehend — the  poverty  of 

the    people,   the    want     of    books    and    proper 

requisites,    and   the    intense    prejudices  of  the 

26 


FIDELIA  FISKE 

people.  It  required  almost  infinite  patience. 
But  the  book  studied  above  all  others  was  the 
Bible,  of  which  the  New  Testament  appeared 
in  1846  and  the  Old  in  1852.  Three  hours  a 
day  were  devoted  to  this  study,  and  the  pupils 
never  wearied  of  it.  They  committed  large 
portions  of  it  to  memory,  and  their  joy  in  receiv- 
ing portions  as  their  own  could  hardly  be  ex- 
pressed. Depending-  upon  this  word,  and  up- 
on the  power  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  Miss  Fiske  and 
her  teachers  toiled.  These  all  waited  upon  God 
day  and  night,  feeling  that  importunate  prayer 
would  bring  the  results  desired. 

After  the  seminary  had  become  fairly  estab- 
lished only  boarders  were  received,  no  day 
scholars.  These  took  charge  of  the  household 
affairs.  Of  the  transformation  in  the  habits 
and  lives  of  these  children  we  get  an  idea  from 
a  letter  of  one  of  the  missionaries,  written  a  few 
years  after  the  establishment  of  the  school,  in 
which  he  says,"  The  system,  order,  good  con- 
duct, and  rapid  improvement  of  the  pupils  are 
unsurpassed  in  any  schools  in  America." 

^liss  Fiske  did  not  confine  her  labors  entirely 

to  the    school;   she  visited  the  mothers  of  her 

girls,  prevailed  upon  them  to  come  to  her  room, 

that  she  might  pray  with  them,  and  visited  not 

only  in  the  city,  but  in   the  adjoining  villages. 

On  Sundays    many  congregated    in   her  room, 

27 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

and  she  soon  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  them 
inquiring  the  way  of  salvation ;  one  woman  re- 
peated each  petition  after  Miss  Fiske,  and  rose 
from  her  knees  covered  with  perspiration,  so 
deeply  was  she  moved.  She  acknowledged  her 
sins,  and,  as  she  expressed  it,  * '  The  Lord  poured 
peace  into  my  soul."  She  was  the  first  convert 
among  the  Nestorian  women. 

This  work  spread,  and  almost  all  who  came 
to  the  seminary  and  under  Miss  Fiske's  influ- 
ence for  any  time  were  compelled  to  surrender 
and  accept  Christ.  One  Koordish  chief,  known 
to  be  one  of  the  vilest  and  most  desperate  of 
characters,  brought  his  daughter  to  the  school. 
He  had  his  gun,  dagger,  and  ammunition  with 
him,  and  acted  in  a  most  defiant  way.  But  even 
he  was  arrested,  convinced  of  sin,  and  wonder- 
fully converted  before  leaving  the  premises. 
This  man,  the  terror  of  that  section  of  the 
country,  was  clothed  and  in  his  right  mind,  and 
all  he  could  say  was,  '*  My  great  sins,  and  my 
great  Saviour!"  Through  his  influence  other 
members  of  the  family  were  won  to  Christianity. 
At  one  time  this  man  was  leading  in  prayer  in 
public,  and  when  getting  up  from  his  knees 
he  exclaimed:  '' O  God,  forgive  me.  I  for- 
got to  pray  for  Miss  Fiske's  school."  So, 
kneeling  down  again,  he  prayed  most  earnestly 

for  it. 

28 


FIDELIA  FISKE 

The  year  1846  was  a  most  memorable  one  in 
the  history  of  the  seminary.  Patiently  had  the 
truth  been  taught.  Old  superstitions  had  lost 
their  hold,  and  of  the  pupils,  though  many  of 
them  had  been  converted,  yet  there  were  many 
who  had  only  an  intellectual  apprehension  of; 
salvation  through  Christ.  Miss  Fiske  and  her 
associates  fasted  and  prayed  for  a  revival 
that  would  stir  them  all.  January  5,  1846,  the 
whole  day  was  spent  as  a  day  of  fasting  and 
prayer.  Before  the  day  closed  two  girls  came 
to  her,  weeping,  and  inquiring  what  they  should 
do  for  their  souls.  There  was  no  private  room 
where  they  could  go,  so  they  made  a  closet 
among  the  fuel  in  the  wood  cellar  and  spent 
hours  there  in  prayer.  The  following  week 
others  were  converted,  and  the  teachers  were 
engaged  often  until  midnight  in  pointing  pupils 
to  Christ.  The  rooms  of  the  teachers  were 
in  demand  as  prayer-closets  for  the  girls, 
and  sometimes  upon  awaking  in  the  morning 
the  teacher  would  find  some  one  in  the  room 
ready  to  inquire  about  her  soul.  This  con- 
tinued for  three  weeks,  and  it  seemed  like  one 
continual  Sabbath.  Every  corner  was  conse- 
crated to  prayer.  Prayer  and  praise  were  heard 
everywhere. 

The  work  was  genuine,  as  was  shown  in  the 

interest  these  girls  had  in  the  salvation  of  their 

29 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

families.  During  their  vacation  many  of  them 
held  meetings  in  their  villages  for  the  women, 
and  went  from  house  to  house  proclaiming  the 
glad  tidings. 

Conversions  followed  each  year,  and  in  1849 
was  another  wonderful  outpouring  of  the  Spirit. 
Then  again  in  1856.  In  the  meantime  there 
had  been  many  discouragements.  Cholera  had 
broken  up  the  school  at  one  time ;  at  another, 
persecutions  of  the  most  violent  kind  were  suf- 
fered, lives  and  property  threatened,  and  they 
w^ere  compelled  to  send  the  children  to  their 
homes.  But  after  a  few  months  these  all  re- 
turned, bringing  others  with  them,  and  they 
came  in  such  numbers  that  it  was  impossible  to 
receive  them.  When  the  seminary  had  been  es- 
tablished nineteen  years  it  had  enjoyed  twelve 
revivals,  and  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  pupils 
were  earnest  Christians. 

The  pressure  upon  Miss  Fiske  during  these 
months  of  school  was  very  great,  and  frequent- 
ly during  vacation  she  would  take  itinerating 
trips,  visit  the  pupils  in  their  homes,  and  meet 
with  the  women.  It  was  on  one  of  these  trips 
that  occurred  a  little  incident  which  is  very 
familiar. 

In  a  village  on  a  certain  Sabbath  she  had  at- 
tended Sabbath  school  and  prayer  meeting,  and 

she  was   very  weary  and  longed  for   rest,  and 

30 


FIDELIA  FISKE 

felt  as  if  she  could  not  sit  without  support 
through  the  preaching  service,  for  she  was 
to  have  another  meeting  afterward  with  the 
women.  She  says:  ''  I  was  so  tired,  but  God 
gave  me  rest  in  such  an  unexpected  way ;  a 
woman  came  and  seated  herself  directly  behind 
me,  so  that  I  could  lean  on  her,  and  invited  me 
to  do  so.  I  declined,  but  she  drew  me  back, 
saying,  '  If  you  love  me,  lean  hard.'  Then 
came  the  Master's  owm  voice,  repeating  the 
words,  '  If  you  love  me,  lean  hard,'  and  I  did 
lean  hard,  and  that  w^oman  did  preach  me  such  a 
good  sermon !  "  How  these  Nestorian  w^omen 
loved  her !  They  went  to  her  for  comfort  in  hours 
of  trial,  for  help  when  convinced  of  sin  ;  and  she 
was  always  ready  to  receive'them,  and  no  one 
left  her  presence  without  being  pointed  to 
Christ. 

These  Nestorian  converts  have  always  been 
noted  for  their  spirit  of  prayer.  They  asked 
for  what  they  w^anted.  During  one  of  the  re- 
vivals two  of  the  pupils  in  the  seminary  spent  a 
whole  night  praying  for  some  relatives,  and 
Miss  Fiske  said,  ''Sometimes  I  have  gone  to 
their  cold  closets  to  persuade  them  to  leave  ;  but 
the  fervor  of  their  prayers  has  oftener  driven 
me  to  mine  than  it  has  allowed  me  to  call  them 
from  theirs." 

But  there  was  a  connection  between  the  semi- 
4  31 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

nary  in  Oroomiah  and  the  seminary  at  South 
Hadley,  and  Miss  Fiske  watched  the  connection 
with  great  interest.  Miss  Lyon  and  her  pupils 
prayed  regularly  and  often  for  Miss  Fiske  and 
her  pupils,  and  when  a  religious  interest  devel- 
oped in  Oroomiah  it  was  found  that  there  had 
been  special  seasons  of  prayer  at  Mount  Hol- 
yoke. 

These  girls  were  trained  in  mission  work  and 
had  their  monthly  concerts,  and  on  that  day, 
from  the  rising  to  the  setting  of  the  sun,  the  voice 
of  prayer  for  a  lost  world  constantly  ascended. 
They  were  trained  in  habits  of  self-denying  be- 
nevolence, and  in  one  year  the  girls  made  some 
fifty  garments  for  poor  children.  But  work  so 
varied  in  its  character,  so  pressing  and  exhaust- 
ing in  its  demands,  seriously  affected  the  health 
of  this  devoted  woman,  and  after  fifteen  years  it 
became  necessary  that  she  should  return  to  her 
American  home  for  needed  rest. 

Miss  Susan  Rice,  who  joined  Miss  Fiske  in 
1847,  ^^d  who  worked  so  faithfully  and  lov- 
ingly, took  the  burdens  of  the  school  upon 
her.  It  was,  however,  a  sad  day  to  the  pu- 
pils and  the  women  not  only  of  the  city,  but 
of  that  whole  section  of  the  country,  when  Miss 
Fiske  departed.  Just  before  she  left  she 
had   the   joy   of    seeing   four    of    her    earliest 

pupils,  with  their  husbands,  depart  as  mission- 

32 


FIDELIA  FISKE 

aries  to  the  dark  mountains  of  Koordistan.  A 
few  days  after  that  nearly  one  hundred  of  the 
once  degraded  Nestorians  knelt  with  her  at  the 
communion  service,  and  there  was  only  one 
present  out  of  that  whole  number  with  whom 
she  had  not  prayed!  One  woman  traveled 
sixty  miles  through  deep  snow  and  piercing 
cold  over  the  mountains  to  be  present  on  this 
occasion. 

Miss  Fiske's  work  for  Nestorian  girls  and 
women,  done  in  the  corner  of  the  earth  and 
hidden,  was  performed  as  royally  and  loyally  as 
if  she  stood  in  the  center  of  the  court,  with  the 
eye  of  the  king  upon  her  all  the  time. 

When  the  poor,  filthy  women,  wild,  rude,  dis- 
honest, and  profane,  kept  on  in  their  crooked 
ways  the  outlook  was  very  dark. 

Mrs.  Rhea,  for  some  years  a  missionary  in 
Persia,  sa3^s  of  the  work  of  Miss  Fiske  and  Miss 
Rice,  who  was  associated  with  her : 

*'  If  they  met  the  women  in  large  companies, 
as  they  often  did,  they  acted  like  unruly  mobs 
or  herds  of  Bashaw,  violent  enough  to  frighten 
gentle  ladies ;  and  there  w^as  never  one  single 
thing  attractive  or  lovely  in  these  coarse 
women,  never  the  faintest  flashing  gleam  of 
the  hoped-for  hidden  diamond,  nothing  but  the 
promise  of  God  concerning  the  leaven — they  to 
hide  it,  he  to  make  it  work." 

33 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

The  Rays  of  Light  from  the  Eastern  land, 
issued  fortnightly,  has  a  column  or  two  written 
by  a  woman.  Sarra,  wife  of  Priest  Oshana  and 
a  former  pupil  of  the  seminary,  contributes  to 
it,  and  Mrs.  Rhea  says  of  her,  "She  wields  a 
burning-,  poetical,  eloquent,  vivid,  consecrated 
pen."  At  a  large  public  gathering  recently  in 
one  of  the  churches  a  woman  presided  in  quiet 
dignity,  having  a  day's  literary  and  devotional 
program,  with  original  essays  and  earnest  dis- 
cussions of  evangelistic  plans.  Sarra,  who  was 
present  at  this  meeting,  spoke,  contrasting  the 
past  with  the  present. 

"She  told  of  the  unruly  mobs  around  Miss 
Fiske,  and  how  it  took  all  her  strength  and  tact 
to  control  them,  and  how  often  she  seemed  to 
fail  utterly,  as  one  would  fail  who  essayed  to 
bind  and  hold  the  waves,  and  added :  '  I  know 
all  that  personally,  for  I  was  one  of  them.  I 
was  there.  I  heard  her,  what  she  said,  and 
their  replies,  and  now  I  am  here  in  quiet  rever- 
ence, waiting  on  the  Lord  in  his  own  house  and 
in  his  own  work,  and  with  hundreds  of  my  Nes- 
torian  sisters,  and  I  marvel  and  rejoice  in  the 
wonderful  change.'  " 

Such  meetings  as  these  referred  to  are  held 
in  three  districts  of  the  missionary  field  on  the 
Oroomiah  plain  by  societies  of  Nestorian  women 
who  were   educated  in  the    female    seminary. 

34 


FIDELIA  FISKE 

From  the  neighboring-  villages  these  women 
eome  quarterly  to  spend  a  day  together  in 
prayer,  worship,  and  discussion  of  practical  re- 
ligious matters,  and  how  they  can  best  work 
for  the  evangelization  of  their  less  favored 
sisters. 

The  day  of  the  departure  from  Oroomiah  was 
a  notable  one.  Miss  Fiske  had  prayed  with  her 
pupils  and  commended  them  to  God's  care,  but 
on  that  memorable  morning  seventy  of  them 
asked  for  just  one  more  prayer  meeting  in  her 
room,  or  their  "  Bethel,"  as  they  called  it,  where 
so  many  prayers  had  been  offered  and  answered, 
and  this  proved  to  be  the  last. 

She  reached  her  home  in  1858,  but  not  to 
rest,  as  she  had  anticipated.  Invitations  came 
to  her  from  every  direction  to  give  ''parlor 
talks,"  and  these  became  vSO  popular  that  she 
had  to  go  from  parlor  to  church.  She  had 
wonderful  influence  over  an  audience,  but  she 
refused  to  speak  to    mixed  audiences. 

' '  I  am  so  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  tell  the 
people  what  the  Lord  has  done  in  Persia,"  she 
said.  She  was  requested  to  take  the  principal- 
ship  of  Mount  Holyoke,  but  declined.  She 
went  there  for  a  time,  until  other  arrangements 
could  be  made,  and  of  the  three  hundred  and 
forty-four  pupils  in  attendance  only  nineteen 
left  the  school  unconverted.     Leaving  here,  she 

35 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

was  urged  to  open  a  school  in  Boston  of  a  high 
literary  and  religious  character,  but  to  all  these 
offers  she  turned  away  with  only  one  reply, 
''  Persia." 

She  returned  to  her  home  in  Shelburne, 
Mass.,  where  she  was  born,  hoping  to  finish  a 
volume  she  had  commenced  on  recollections  of 
her  teacher,  Mary  Lyon,  but  disease  rapidly  de- 
veloped, and  for  weeks  she  suffered  intensely, 
when,  on  July  26,  1864,  in  her  forty-eighth 
year,  she  exchanged  the  toils  of  earth  for  the 
rest  of  heaven. 

"Will  you  pray?  "she  said  to  a  friend  at 
her  bedside,  and  these  were  her  last  words.  A 
life  of  prayer  had  ended  in  prayer. 

Her  death  caused  grief  not  only  among 
friends  here  at  home,  but  in  the  missionary 
circle  in  Persia,  among  all  classes  of  Nestorian 
women,  and  her  former  pupils.  Many  of  them 
wrote  letters  of  sympathy  to  her  family,  ex- 
pressing their  grief  for  her  loss.  One  of  them 
said,  in  a  letter  to  Miss  Fiske's  mother,  "  When 
you  see  a  band  of  Nestorian  girls  on  the  right 
hand  of  the  Redeemer,  brought  there  by  the 
influence  of  your  daughter,  you  will  not  regret 
the  sacrifice  you  have  made;"  and  then  touch- 
ingly  added,  ''Is  there  another  Miss  Fiske  in 
your  cotmtry?  " 

She  was   a  rare  Christian  woman,  a  skillful 
36 


FIDELIA    FISKE 

teacher,  an  eminently  successful  and  devoted 
missionary.  Her  monument  is  the  seminary 
which  now  for  forty-seven  years  has  been 
sending  forth  blessed  Christian  influences  on 
the  hills  and  plains  of  Persia. 

"  God  granted  her  that  which  she  requested." 

37 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH   FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

MRS.  R.  B.   LYTH 

South  Sea  Missionary 

THE  story  of  the  founding  of  the  Church  of 
Christ  in  the  South  Seas  is  full  of  hero- 
ism. The  Rev.  R.  B.  Lyth,  M.D.,  was  one  of 
the  pioneers  and  the  first  medical  missionary. 
In  1836  he  married  !Miss  Hardy.  At  that  time 
few  would  have  ventured  to  prophesy  that  the 
cultured  and  gentle  bride  would  develop  the 
fine  qualities  which  have  made  her  record  one 
of  noble  daring  and  wonderful  success.  She 
combined  the  intrepidity  of  the  heroine  with 
the  fortitude  of  the  martyr.  She  shared  the 
perils  of  her  husband  on  sea  and  land,  traveling 
with  him  in  frail  canoes  and  living  in  the  midst 
of  the  wildest  cannibalism,  ever  strong  in  faith 
that  God  would  put  between  them  and  every 
danger  his  own  broadest  shield. 

The  first  three  years  of  her  mission  life  were 
spent  in  Tonga.  Here  she  acquired  a  correct 
knowledge  of  the  Tongese  language,  which 
proved  of  great  service  to  her  in  other  parts  of 
Polynesia.  At  that  time  a  wave  of  spiritual 
power  swept  over  Tonga,  and  thousands  were 
soundly  converted  to  God.  One  of  the  first  ex- 
pressions of  that  new  life  was  in  missionary  fer- 
vor and  a  desire  to  send  the  Gospel  to  the  Fijians. 

38 


MRS.  R.   B.   LYTH. 


MRS.  R.  B.  LYTH 

Thus  the  Fijian  Mission  commenced  as  an 
extension  of  the  Friendly  Islands  Mission,  and 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Lyth  were  sent  to  Somosomo, 
always  the  most  trying  and  difficult  station  in 
Fiji.  Mrs.  Lyth  acquired  now  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  Fijian  language.  Dr.  Lyth's 
mission  was  to  care  for  the  bodies  of  the  Fijians, 
and  thus  seek  to  win  their  souls  for  Christ.  The 
sick  were  brought  to  him  from  every  quarter. 
In  the  house  given  by  the  chief  as  a  temporary 
hospital  patients  requiring  nursing  and  careful 
dieting  wxre  under  the  special  care  of  Mrs. 
Lyth.  She  relieved  suffering  and  prolonged 
and  saved  life  by  her  care  for  the  sick,  and  thus 
she  was  ever  preaching  a  gospel  which  the  can- 
nibal could  not  gainsay  or  resist.  She  was  also 
teaching  the  natives  how  to  nurse  the  sick  and 
training  them  for  similar  service.  Many 
profited  by  her  lessons  and  became  skillful 
nurses. 

All  the  while  tribal  wars  were  raging  around, 
the  quiet  of  the  hospital  was  broken  by  the  can- 
nibal death-drum,  and  bodies  were  dragged  in 
front  of  the  mission  house  to  be  offered  in  sacri- 
fice before  they  were  put  into  the  ovens.  Yet 
no  word  about  hardship  or  sacrifice  ever  es- 
caped her  lips.  We  have  the  testimony  of 
another  about  her  patient  endurance.  Com- 
modore Wilkes,  of  the  United  States  Exploring 

41 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH   FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

Expedition,  visited  Somosomo,  and  he  writes 
thus  of  Mrs.  Lyth  and  Mrs.  Hunt : 

*  *  There  are  few  situations  in  which  vSO  much 
physical  and  moral  courage  is  required  as  those 
in  which  these  devoted  and  pious  women  are 
placed,  and  nothing  but  a  deep  sense  of  duty 
and  a  strong  determination  to  perform  it  could 
induce  civilized  persons  to  subject  themselves 
to  the  sight  of  such  horrid  scenes  as  they  are 
called  upon  almost  daily  to  witness.  I  know  no 
situation  so  trying  for  ladies  to  live  in,  particu- 
larly when  pleasing  and  well  informed,  as  we 
found  at  Somosomo." 

After  five  years  spent  at  Somosomo  Mr.  Lyth 

was  removed  to  Lakemba,  where  the  people  had 

become  Christians  and  the  great  demand  was  for 

native  teachers.     The  whole  circuit  was  turned 

into   a   training   institution.      Two    days   each 

week  the  local  preachers  and  class  leaders  came 

to  the  mission  station  for  instruction.     After  a 

lesson  in  theology  the  outline  of  a  sermon  was 

written  on  the  blackboard  and  explained;   then 

it  was  copied,  to  be  preached  in  all  the  villages 

on  the  following  Sunday  by  men  who  had  great 

facility  in  illustration  and  the  burning  fervor  of 

first  love.    But  while  the  men  were  thus  getting 

help  for  their  work  Mrs.   Lyth  had  their  wives 

in  another  room  teaching  them  to  sew  and  to 

knit,   and  giving   a    Bible  reading,  which   the 

42 


MRS.  R.  B.  LYTH 

women  would  repeat  when  they  returned  to 
the  village.  She  was  able  to  do  more  for  the 
wives  of  teachers  because  the  nurses  trained  by 
herself  could  do  the  work  of  the  hospital  under 
her  general  supervision.  The  training  of  na- 
tive pastors  and  their  wives  in  this  way  was  a 
wonderful  blessing  to  the  Fijian  churches. 

Eight  years  were  spent  in  Lakemba,  and  then 
Mr.  and  Airs.  Lyth  were  appointed  to  Viwa. 
Here  was  the  printing  press,  and  Mrs.  Lyth 
was  soon  assisting  in  the  translation  of  the 
Eible.  She  was  a  cheerful  and  valuable  helper 
in  all  literary  work,  for  her  knowledge  of  the 
language  was  accurate  and  her  pen  that  of  a 
ready  writer.  It  was  during  her  residence  at 
Viwa  that  what  she  calls  in  her  journal  a 
''  heavier  cross  than  usual  "  had  to  be  taken  up. 
The  story  has  been  often  told,  but  may  well  be 
told  again. 

When  fourteen  women,  captured  as  prisoners 
of  war,  were  about  to  be  killed  and  offered  in 
sacrifice,  and  then  cooked  and  eaten  at  a  great 
festival  in  honor  of  important  visitors  at  Bau, 
Mrs.  Lyth  and  Mrs.  Calvert,  when  their  hus- 
bands were  far  away  on  a  distant  island,  went, 
at  all  hazards,  to  try  to  rescue  the  victims. 
The  death-drum,  the  firing  of  muskets,  and 
the  piercing  shrieks  told  that  the  butchery 
was  begun  when   they  reached  the  shore,   but 

43 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

they  hastened  through  the  crowds  of  maddened 
cannibals  to  the  house  of  the  old  king,  Tanoa — 
admittance  to  which  was  forbidden  to  all  women 
excepting  those  of  the  household — and  wath  a 
whale's  tooth  in  each  hand  as  an  offering  thrust 
themselves  into  his  awful  presence  with  their 
plea  for  mercy.  Their  audacity  startled  the  old 
king,  whose  hearing  was  dull,  and  in  their  terri- 
ble earnestness  they  raised  their  voices  to  plead 
for  the  lives  of  their  dark  sisters.  The  old  king 
was  overcome,  and  said,  "  Those  who  are  dead 
are  dead,  but  those  who  are  alive  sJiall  livey 
Five  of  the  poor  women  were  saved,  and 
blessed  them  for  their  work  of  love.  They  were 
only  conscious  of  their  peril  when  they  looked 
back  upon  it  after  the  excitement  was  past. 

A  navy  officer  after  a  visit  to  them  wrote: 
'*  If  anything  could  have  increased  our  admira- 
tion of  their  heroism,  it  was  the  unaffected  man- 
ner in  which,  when  pressed  by  us  to  relate  the 
circumstances  of  their  awful  visit,  they  spoke  of 
it  as  the  simple  performance  of  an  ordinary 
duty." 

These  devoted  missionaries  lived  to  see  a 
great  work  accomplished — the  islands  Chris- 
tianized, the  Sabbath  observed,  and  family 
prayer  held  daily.  They  returned  to  their  na- 
tive   land,    and   on   September    i8,    1890,    Mrs. 

Lyth  was  buried. 

44 


ANN  WILKINS 

ANN    WILKINS 

Missionary  to  Africa 

THE  name  of  Ann  Wilkins  is  as  '*  ointment 
poured  forth  "  in  connection  with  the  mis- 
sionary work  in  Liberia,  Africa.  She  went  to 
the  Dark  Continent  in  the  days  when  it  took 
heroic  faith  for  a  woman  to  penetrate  the  sin 
and  misery  of  that  country. 

The  mere  dates  of  her  history  are  these :  She 
was  born  in  1806,  of  Methodist  parents,  in  New 
York  State ;  converted  at  the  age  of  fourteen ; 
sailed  for  Africa,  the  first  time,  June  15,  1837; 
returned  to  the  United  States  in  poor  health  in 
1841  ;  went  to  Liberia  a  second  time,  January 
30,  1842  ;  returned  again  in  June,  1853  ;  went  to 
Africa  a  third  time,  October  25,  1854;  reached 
America  again  April  23,  1857,  and  died  in  No- 
vember of  that  year,  aged  fifty-one  years  and 
four  months. 

These  figures  may  seem  bare  and  uninterest- 
ing, but  they  are  essential,  and  if  once  clothed 
with  the  character  of  our  heroine,  they  become 
instinct  with  intense  beauty  and  sublimest  inter- 
est. Her  birth  was  of  parents  whose  love  for  God 
and  his  cause  became  early  infused  into  her  life. 
Her  sailing  was  preceded  by  a  call  to -the  work 
and   an  offer  of  service,  in  words  which  have 

45 


'•THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

become  historic.  The  Rev.  John  Seys  had  just 
returned  from  Africa  and,  alive  with  the  sense 
of  the  need  of  the  mission  to  Liberia,  he  pre- 
sented the  claims  of  the  work  at  a  camp  meet- 
ing at  Sing  Sing,  N.  Y.,  and  among  the  contri- 
butions came  this  note:  "  A  sister  who  has  but 
little  money  at  command  gives  that  little  cheer- 
fully, and  is  willing  to  give  her  life  as  a  female 
teacher  if  she  is  wanted."  She  literally  put 
herself  into  the  plate.  She  was  wanted.  She 
was  then  a  member  of  Bedford  Street  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  New  York  city,  and  a 
teacher  in  the  Sunday  school.  When  the  CJiar- 
lottc  Harper  left  Philadelphia  in  the  following 
June  she  was  among  the  passengers,  going  to  a 
field  which  had  been  the  grave  of  so  many  de- 
voted heroes  for  Christ,  yet  strong  in  her  deter- 
mination to  do  her  Master's  bidding.  From  the 
hour  when  she  beheld  the  low,  palm-bearing 
coast  of  Liberia  she  never  forgot  it  in  her  con- 
versation, her  labors,  or  her  prayers.  Once 
arrived,  her  eagerness  to  do  good  and  restless- 
ness at  any  delay  manifested  itself  in  her  begin- 
ning immediately  to  gather  about  her  the  dusky 
faces  of  those  anxious  to  be  taught.  When  she 
was,  at  length,  settled  at  her  appointed  work  it 
was  at  a  town  situated  some  twenty  miles  from 
Monrovia,  just  at   the    foot  of    the  highlands, 

where  St.  Paul's  River  forces  itself  over  a  rocky 

46 


ANN  WILKINS 

ledge  with  a  rushing  sweep  and  the  hoarse 
sound  of  a  rapid.  Here,  at  Millsburg,  she  be- 
gan her  labors  in  earnest,  laying  the  founda- 
tion for  the  school  over  which  she  presided 
more  than  eighteen  years,  and  to-day  her  for- 
mer pupils  and  their  children,  grown  to  woman- 
hood, cherish  her  memory  and  her  pure.  Chris- 
tian instruction.  The  dates  show  that  she  re- 
turned home  twice  previous  to  the  last  time, 
compelled  by  her  failing  strength.  When,  after 
ten  long  years  of  severest  toil,  she  yielded  to 
the  solicitations  of  her  friends  and  came  back 
the  second  time,  in  1853,  it  was  not  expected 
that  she  would  live  to  see  her  native  shore. 
But  a  kind  Providence  watched  over  her,  and 
gave  her  restored  health  and  increased  strength, 
so  that  within  a  few  months  she  gladly  went 
back  again,  to  assist  the  three  ladies  whom  the 
Board  was  sending  out  to  this  field  and  to  be 
with  them  in  the  beginning  of  their  work.  Her 
constitution  had,  however,  become  so  shattered 
by  exposure  to  an  inhospitable  climate  that  she 
remained  but  a  year  and  a  half,  and  then  crossed 
the  ocean  the  sixth  and  last  time  Within  a 
year  after  her  return  she  passed  away. 

Her  welcome  home  in  1857  was  warm  as  that 

of  a   dear    and    long-absent    child.     The    New 

York  East  Conference  was  in  session  at  the  time 

of  her  arrival,  and  her  first  appearance  in  pub- 

5  47 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH   FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

lie  was  at  the  ordination  of  ministers  in  Fleet 
Street  Church,  Brooklyn.  Near  the  close  of 
the  sacramental  service  which  followed  the  ordi- 
nation services  Bishop  Waugh  announced  that 
Miss  Wilkins  was  present,  and  invited  her,  if 
able,  to  come  forward  to  the  altar.  Slowly  and 
feebly,  leaning  upon  a  friend,  her  arm — which 
had  been  broken  by  an  accident  during  the  voy- 
age— in  a  sling  at  her  side,  the  slight  form 
which  enshrined  so  grand  a  soul  moved  down 
the  aisle  and  kneeled  to  receive  the  sacred  em- 
blems in  remembrance  of  the  Saviour  she  so 
much  loved.  There  were  breathless  silence  and 
quick  heart-beats  through  the  room ;  and  when 
she  arose  and  turned  her  worn  and  wan  face  to- 
ward the  congregation  tears,  both  of  joy  and 
sorrow,  burst  forth,  and  all  hearts  melted  in 
love  toward  her  who  had  so  long  stood  in 
Christ's  stead,  partaking  of  his  sufferings. 

She  lingered  but  a  few  short  months  after 
this,  but  in  her  last  moments  she  thought  and 
prayed  for  those  she  had  taught  in  Africa. 
"Such  dying  we  never  witnessed,"  said  those 
who  were  present  at  her  deathbed.  She  was 
buried  in  the  family  cemetery  on  the  banks  of 
the  Hudson,  near  Fort  Montgomery,  and  after 
thirty  years  the  property  passed  into  the  hands 
of   strangers.     The    person   who    purchased   it 

declared  his  intention  to  remove  the  headstone 

48 


ANN  WILKINS 

and  plow  up  the  field.  The  Woman's  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  learning  this  fact,  passed  a  series  of 
resolutions  authorizing  a  committee  to  solicit 
funds  to  provide  a  suitable  resting  place  and 
erect  a  simple  monument,  A  fitting  and  beauti- 
ful site  was  donated  by  the  trustees  of  Maple 
Grove  Cemetery,  Long  Island,  and  the  body  re- 
moved to  it.  The  reinterment  took  place  June 
19,  1886,  at  which  time  a  number  of  the  members 
of  the  society  were  present.  A  memorial  ad- 
dress was  delivered  by  the  Rev.  John  M.  Reid, 
D.D.  Upon  the  monument  erected  is  the  fol- 
lowing inscription : 

Here  lies  Ann  Wilkins,  a  missionary  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  to  Liberia  from  1836  to  1856.  Died  November  13,  1857, 
aged  fifty-one  years.  Having  little  money  at  command,  she  gave 
herself.     Erected  by  the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society. 

49 


THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB 


MARY  LOUISA  WHATELY 

THE  name  of  no  English  missionary  is  prob- 
ably more  widely  known  than  that  of  Miss 
Whately,  of  Cairo,  Egypt.  The  remarkable  char- 
acter of  this  woman  and  the  missionary  work  she 
accomplished  in  thirty  years  are  known  and  ap- 
preciated by  Christians  everywhere. 

Miss  Whately  was  the  second  daughter  of 
Archbishop  Whately,  of  the  Church  of  England, 
the  famous  logician.  She  was  born  in  1824,  at 
the  country  rectory  of  Halesworth,  in  Suffolk, 
where  her  father  resided  some  years  before  his 
appointment  to  the  see  of  Dublin.  The  chief 
part  of  her  early  life,  however,  was  spent  in 
Ireland,  where,  under  her  father's  roof,  she  and 
her  sisters  received  the  highest  educational 
training,  mental,  moral,  and  religious,  from  a 
father  and  mother  of  rarest  gifts  and  graces. 

Activity,  energy,  and  intelligence  of  no  com- 
mon order  distinguished  her  from  her  child- 
hood. After  the  Irish  famine,  when  so  many 
organizations  were  formed  to  help  the  poor  and 
ignorant,  she  found  a  field  for  those  energies 
especially  in  the  ragged  schools  opened  in  Dub- 
lin, in  which  she  and  her  mother  and  sisters 
were  constantly  employed.      She  often  said  in 

later  life  that  the  training  she  received  in  the 

50 


MARY    LOUISA    WHATELY. 


MARY  LOUISA  WHATELY 

Irish  mission  schools  was  an  invaluable  prepara- 
tion for  the  work  in  which  she  was  afterward  to 
be  engaged.  She  had  learned  before  this  early 
beginning  that  the  first  step  was  to  give  herself 
to  Him  who  had  bought  her  with  a  price,  and  in 
this  spirit  her  work  at  home  and  abroad  was  ever 
carried  on.  She  was  a  good  Italian  scholar,  and, 
with  her  sisters,  was  at  one  time  much  occupied 
in  visiting  and  teaching  poor  Italians,  who  were 
very  numerous  in  Dublin.  This  also  served  as 
a  preparation  for  the  work  she  was  to  undertake 
later  on  among  various  nationalities. 

In  1858  she  visited  Cairo  and  the  Holy  Land 
with  some  friends,  and  the  interest  awakened 
in  her  mind  by  this  visit  w^as  the  first  inspira- 
tion for  her  life  work  in  the  East.  At  one  time 
after  her  return  she  had  much  wished  to  eneaee 
in  work  at  Jerusalem  ;  but  circumstances  made 
this  impossible,  and  another  path  w^as  to  open 
for  her  soon  afterward.  In  the  winter  of  i860 
her  health  had  suffered  severely,  after  the  loss  of 
her  mother  and  youngest  sister,  and  she  was 
ordered  to  a  southern  climate.  Her  thoughts 
turned  toward  the  land  of  Egypt,  which  she 
had  already  learned  to  love.  She  went  there 
with  a  near  relative,  and  while  residing  in  Cairo 
felt  a  strong  desire  to  do  something  for  the  little 
Moslem  girls,  who  seemed  so  utterly  neglected, 
living  the  life  of  mere  drudges,  without  a  thought 

53 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

or  hope  beyond  the  outer  life.  At  that  time  no 
attempt  liad  been  made  in  behalf  of  Moslems  in 
Egypt,  and  education  for  women,  even  for  those 
nominally  Christian,  was  at  the  lowxst  ebb. 

In  spite  of  difficulties  and  discouragements 
innumerable,  and  prophecies  of  failure  on  all 
sides,  she  opened  a  girls'  school  in  her  own 
hired  home.  With  a  respectable  Syrian  Protes- 
tant matron,  whose  services  she  engaged  (whose 
own  native  language,  of  course,  was  Arabic,  and 
who  knew  about  as  much  English  as  her  em- 
ployer had  learned  of  Arabic),  she  went  forth 
into  the  streets  and  lanes  near  her  dwelling. 
She  -persuaded  the  mothers  to  let  their  girls 
come  and  learn  to  read  and  sew.  With  great 
difficulty  she  gathered  eight  or  nine  little  ones, 
taught  them  the  Arabic  alphabet  from  a  card 
which  she  had  prepared,  the  first  rudiments  of 
sewine,  and  a  text  which  she  had  herself  learned 
by  heart  from  the  Arabic  Bible.  This  was  the 
small  beginning  from  which  much  blessed  fruit 
was  to  spring. 

Later  she  was  obliged  to  return  to  Europe. 
She  attended  her  father  during  his  last  illness, 
and,  her  Irish  home  being  broken  up  by  his 
death,  she  returned  and  settled  herself  in  Cairo 
for  life.  With  the  voluntary  help  of  Mr.  Man- 
soor  Shakoor,  a  devoted  and  highl}^  gifted  mis- 
sionary from  the  Lebanon,  and  of  his  brother  a 

54 


MARY  LOUISA  WHATELY 

little  later,  she  was  able  to  add  a  boys'  school  to 
the  one  already  opened  for  girls.  This  was 
filled  more  rapidly,  as  the  need  of  education  for 
lads  to  w^hom  it  might  be  daily  bread  was  more 
readily  felt.  In  1869  the  Khedive,  Ismail  Pasha, 
at  the  kind  suggestion  of  the  Prince  of  Wales, 
who  with  the  princess  had  visited  her  work, 
gave  her  an  excellent  site,  just  outside  the  city 
walls,  on  which  to  build  her  mission  house  and 
schools.  She  erected  a  spacious  building  for 
the  boys'  and  girls'  schools,  a  fourth  part  of  the 
price  of  which  was  collected  by  friends  in  Eng- 
land, while  the  rest  was  supplied  from  her  own 
resources,  by  no  means  large. 

Some  years  previously  Miss  Whately  had  been 
joined  by  the  betrothed  bride  of  Mansoor  Sha- 
koor,  her  first  missionary  helper.  This  young 
girl,  a  daughter  of  one  of  the  landed  propri- 
etors in  the  Lebanon  district,  was  educated 
and  treated  as  a  daughter  both  before  and 
after  her  marriage,  and  was  a  fellow- worker 
in  all  labors  of  love.  When  the  two  excel- 
lent brothers  who  had  been  Miss  Whately's 
assistants  in  the  work  were  taken  to  their 
heavenly  rest  within  a  few  years  of  each  other 
the  young  Syrian  widow  remained,  instead  of  re- 
turning to  the  home  where  her  husband's  family 
wished  her  to  join  them,  and  resolved  to  devote 
her  life  to  that  mission  to  which  her  husband 

55 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

had  given  himself,  heart  and  soul,  and  in  which 
he  had  spent  all  his  strength. 

A  medical  mission  was  added  to  the  schools 
in  1879,  ^^^^^  which  MissWhately  built  a  dispen- 
sary and  patients'  waiting  room,  also  from  her 
own  private  means.  This  work  originated  in 
her  own  unaided  efforts  to  relieve  the  sick,  and 
is  now  carried  on  by  a  pious  and  skillful  Syrian 
doctor.  Upward  of  six  hundred  are  in  daily 
attendance.  Half  the  boys  and  two  thirds  of 
the  girls  are  Moslems,  the  rest  being  Copts, 
with  some  Syrians  and  a  few  of  other  nationali- 
ties, including  several  Jews.  Almost  all  the  sub- 
ordinate teachers  were  trained  in  the  school. 

The  people  in  the  Nile  villages  within  a  cer- 
tain distance  south  of  Cairo  said  to  one  another 
in  1889,  according  to  their  wont  in  early  spring: 
"Where  is  the  Lady  of  the  Book?  Will  she 
come  again  this  year  and  read  us  the  '  good 
words? '  It  is  time  for  her  to  come."  She  did 
go,  but  it  was  the  last  trip. 

She  ,had  taken  cold  before  she  stepped  on 
board  the  hired  dahabieh.  It  w^as  engaged  for 
a  certain  date,  and  the  hire  must  still  have  been 
paid  even  if  the  trip  were  given  up.  For  many 
years  she  had  been  trying  to  raise  money  to 
buy  a  mission  boat,  but  English  Christians  did 
not  comprehend  the  need,  and  her  owm  re- 
sources w^ere  already  heavily  overtaxed.      *'  No, 

56 


MARY  LOUISA  WHATELY 

she  could  not  give  up  the  voyage — It  was  the 
one  chance  for  the  year,"  she  said.  So  the  ex- 
pectant audiences  were  not  disappointed.  The 
story  of  salvation  was  once  more  told  at  five 
different  halting  places.  The  Book  of  books 
was  distributed,  the  feverish  bronchial  symp- 
toms being  meanwhile  kept  at  bay  by  the  happy 
excitement  of  the  good  work  done,  and  on  re- 
turning to  Cairo  it  was  hoped  that  rest  and 
nursing  in  her  own  quiet  chamber  would,  with 
good  medical  aid,  undo  the  damage  received. 
Her  sister's  letter  of  March  2,  giving  these  de- 
tails, expressed  the  hope  that  convalescence  had 
set  in.  But  the  very  same  day  that  that  letter 
arrived  by  post  the  news  was  flashed  by  tele- 
gram that,  one  week  later,  on  Saturday,  March 
9,  1889,  the  happy  worker  had  entered  on  her 
happier  rest. 

All  that  is  earthly  of  Mary  Whately  was 
buried  in  the  beautiful  English  cemetery  at 
Cairo,  in  the  midst  of  the  city  and  people  she  so 
much  loved. 

57 


THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 


MELINDA  RANKIN 

MLSS  RANKIN'S  Tzvcnty  Years  among  the 
Mexicans  is  a  thrilling  missionary  story. 
I  have  been  stirred  as  I  have  read  the  book,  and 
more  deeply  stirred  as  I  heard  Miss  Rankin  re- 
late the  story  in  the  quiet  of  my  own  home. 
She  was  a  remarkable  woman,  combining  great 
strength  and  independence,  womanly  tender- 
ness and  religious  devotion,  and  was  a  power  in 
any  position.  Born  among  the  hills  of  New 
England,  she  found  her  life  work  in  the  sunny 
land  of  the  Aztecs.  She  never  shrank  from 
duty  or  from  danger  in  all  the  varied  and  try- 
ing experiences  that  came  to  her,  and  in  writing 
up  some  of  these  experiences  she  says,  "  I 
tell  them  because  I  hope  to  prove  by  actual 
facts  which  have  occurred  in  one  woman's  life 
that  our  divine  Master  has  still  work  for  woman 
to  do  in  his  kingdom  on  earth." 

She  had  unlimited  faith  in  woman  and  in  her 
power  to  bring  things  to  pass.  "  Had  I  yielded 
to  public  sentiment,"  she  .said,  "  I  should  have 
settled  down  in  my  New  England  home ;  but 
when  Christ  took  possession  of  my  heart  I  sub- 
mitted myself  and  all  my  possibilities  to  him, 
and  was  filled  with  a  desire  to  make  known  the 

blessed  Gospel,  and  I  went  out  to  do  the  Master's 

58 


•  MELINDA  RANKIN 

work,  and  felt  no  proscription  because  I  was  a 
woman."  After  her  consecration  she  was  sub- 
jected to  a  series  of  trials  which  she  believed 
were  sent  to  prove  the  depth  and  sincerity  of 
her  motives,  but  she  came  through  these  years 
of  waiting  and  preparation  refined  and  purified 
for  the  work  God  had  for  her. 

About  the  year  1 840  a  call  was  made  for  mis- 
sionary teachers  to  go  to  the  Mississippi  Valley. 
European  immigration  brought  great  numbers 
of  Roman  Catholics  into  that  portion  of  the  coun- 
try, and  American  Protestantism  made  appeals 
for  counteracting  influences.  To  this  call  Miss 
Rankin  responded,  and  went  as  far  as  Kentucky, 
where  she  remained  for  a  short  time,  establish- 
ing schools,  then  pushed  her  way  on  to 
Mississippi.  The  sunny  South  charmed  her, 
and  among;  its  delio-htful  scenes  she  fain  would 
have  made  her  permanent  residence;  but  she 
was  not  seeking  her  own  pleasure ;  she  was 
about  her  Master's  business,  and  this  merely  be- 
came to  her  an  observatory  whence  she  looked 
to  the  regions  beyond. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  between  Mexico  and 
the  United  States,  through  officers  and  soldiers 
returning  home,  she  learned  much  of  the  Mexi- 
can people,  and  their  condition  under  a  tyranni- 
cal priesthood,  and  her  sympathy  became  so 
enlisted  that  she  immediately  wrote  articles  for 

59 


'•  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

the  papers,  hoping  thus  to  awaken  an  interest 
among  the  churches  and  missionary  societies, 
but  her  appeals  met  witli  no  response.  "God 
helping  me,  I  will  go  to  Mexico  myself,"  said 
she,  and  she  carried  out  her  determination. 

But  Mexico  then  was  in  a  very  unsettled  state 
and  she  could  not  enter;  besides,  the  laws  at 
that  time  positively  forbade  the  introduction  of 
Protestant  Christianity  in  any  form,  so  to  Texas 
she  went,  and  settled  at  Brownsville,  on  the 
American  side  of  the  Rio  Grande,  opposite 
Matamoras,  Mexico.  The  outlook  was  not 
pleasant.  With  difficulty  she  found  shelter,  for 
there  were  no  hotels.  She  succeeded  in  renting 
two  rooms — one  for  a  bedroom,  the  other  for  a 
school.  She  had  no  furniture,  but  her  wants 
were  simple  and  were  soon  supplied,  ''For,"  she 
says,  ' '  a  Mexican  woman  brought  me  a  cot,  an 
American  sent  me  a  pillow,  and  a  German  wom- 
an said  she  would  cook  my  meals;  and  so  I 
went  to  my  humble  cot  with  profound  feelings 
of  gratitude." 

The  very  next  day  she  opened  a  school  for 
Mexican  girls,  as  there  was  a  large  population  of 
Mexicans  in  the  city.  This  prospered  beyond 
her  expectations,  and  she  was  encouraged  by 
the  following  little  incident :  A  mother  of  one  of 
the  little  girls  came  to  her  door  one  day,  bring- 
ing her  saint,   as  she   called   it;   said  she  had 

60 


MELINDA  RANKIN 

prayed  to  it  all  her  life  and  it  had  never  done 
her  any  good,  and  wanted  to  know  if  she  might 
exchange  it  for  a  Bible.  "Indeed,  I  was  so 
well  pleased,"  said  Miss  Rankin,  ''that  I  gave 
her  two  Bibles,  as  she  had  a  friend  over  in 
Matamoras  that  wanted  one."  This  was  the 
beginning. 

God's  word  she  felt  to  be  above  all  human 
law,  and  while  to  carry  Bibles  into  Mexico  was 
a  direct  violation  of  the  laws  of  the  country,  she 
maintained  that  no  earthly  power  had  a  right  to 
withhold  this  book  from  the  people,  and  so  she 
devoted  her  energies  to  getting  the  Spanish 
Bible  across  the  river. 

''Better  send  bullets  and  gunpowder  to  Mex- 
ico than  Bibles,"  said  one  (a  minister)  to  her 
when  she  was  pleading  for  help.  But  she  found 
opportunities  for  sending  hundreds  of  Bibles 
and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  pages  of  tracts 
furnished  her  by  the  American  Bible  and  Tract 
Societies.  Mexicans  came  to  her  house  earnestly 
soliciting  a  copy  of  the  book.  Orders  came  to 
her  from  Monterey  and  places  in  the  interior 
for  dozens  of  Bibles,  and  with  money  to  pay  for 
them.  A  Protestant  portrait  painter  carried 
great  quantities  of  books  for  her  into  the  coun- 
try. ' '  The  Mexicans  take  your  books  to  turn 
them  over  to  the  priests  to  be  burned,"  said  a 
friend  to  her ;   but  in  several  instances  she  was 

6i 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

told  that  they  hid  their  books,  and  "  only  read 
them  at  night  when  the  priests  were  not  about." 
She  wrote  home  for  help,  but  was  told  that  a 
Christian  colporteur  speaking  the  Spanish  lan- 
guage could  not  be  found  ;  so,  getting  assistance 
for  her  school,  she  started  out  as  the  agent  of 
the  American  and  Foreign  Christian  Union,  and 
the  work  received  a  new  impulse. 

**  Every  Bible  going  into  Mexico  pleads  for 
religious  liberty,"  she  said,  and  religious  liberty 
came  very  slowly ;  but  while  she  was  watching 
the  struggle  severe  domestic  troubles  came  upon 
her.  Her  sister,  who  had  taken  care  of  the 
seminary,  was  taken  ill  and  died,  and  she  her- 
self was  stricken  with  yellow  fever  and  her  life 
despaired  of.  But  faithful  Mexican  women 
tenderly  and  lovingly  cared  for  her,  and  she  re- 
covered. Then  the  civil  war  came,  and  she 
was  driven  from  her  school  because  she  was  not 
in  sympathy  with  the  Confederacy.  She  did 
not,  however,  relinquish  her  hold  readily,  but 
waited  until  three  peremptory  orders  were  sent, 
the  last  with  the  intimation  that  force  would  be 
used  if  she  did  not  vacate  at  once.  Confiscation 
of  all  her  property  was  urged,  but  the  receiver, 
a  Roman  Catholic,  would  not  allow  it,  saying, 
"  It  was  bad  enough  for  ;;/r;/  to  be  afflicted  with 
the  horrors  of  war,  and  he  could  not  take  from 

a  zvoman    her    necessary  articles  of  furniture." 

62 


MELINDA  RANKIN 

Thus  driven  out,  she  found  shelter  in  Mata- 
moras,  and  here  she  commenced  her  direct 
missionary  labors  for  Mexicans  on  Mexican  soil. 
But  difficulties  presented  themselves,  and  often 
she  would  spend  whole  nights  in  prayer. 

She  made  a  decision  to  go  to  J^Ionterey,  which 
on  account  of  its  commercial  interest  was  one  of 
the  most  important  cities,  with  a  population  of 
about  forty  thousand,  and  was  the  center  of 
strong  Romish  influences  and  power;  and  in 
this  place  this  lone  woman,  after  three  months 
of  careful  and  prayerful  consideration,  decided 
to  establish  the  first  Protestant  mission  in  Mex- 
ico. She  rented  house  after  house,  each  of 
which  she  had  to  abandon  as  soon  as  the  priests 
found  she  was  teaching  the  Bible.  Feeling  the 
need  of  a  chapel  and  school  buildings  for  suc- 
cessfully carrying  on  this  work,  she  visited  home 
and  secured  several  thousand  dollars,  with 
which  she  bought  land  and  erected  the  neces- 
sary buildings.  In  the  meantime  converts  were 
multiplying,  and  some  of  them  were  selected 
by  Miss  Rankin  to  go  to  the  adjoining  towns  and 
villages  within  a  circle  of  one  hundred  miles  to 
preach  Christ,  who  returned  at  the  end  of  amonth 
with  reports  of  kind  receptions.  They  went 
from  house  to  house  and  from  ranch  to  ranch. 

Then  Zacatecas,  distant  some  three  hundred 

miles,  was  selected  as  another  center,   and  in 
6  63 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

two  years  a  cliurcli  was  erected  by  the  Mexicans, 
which  in  1872,  with  one  hundred  and  seventy 
members,  was  made  over  to  and  occupied  by  the 
Presbyterian  Board.  The  work  spread  on  all 
sides.  In  one  place  the  Bible  readers  wrote  to 
Miss  Rankin,  *'  We  can  scarcely  get  time  to  eat 
or  sleep,  so  anxious  are  the  people  to  hear  God's 
word."  Mexicans  themselves,  after  obtaining 
some  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  would  organize 
"societies"  for  the  purpose  of  mutual  in- 
struction. 

But  in  1 87 1  came  disturbances  again,  and 
upon  every  available  spot  of  her  house  was 
written  in  large  letters,  * '  Death  to  the  Protes- 
tants." The  mission  followers  w^ere  in  constant 
apprehension  of  assault.  Bloody  battles  were 
fought  not  far  from  Monterey,  and  mounted 
soldiers  entered  the  town  and  came  to  her  home 
demanding  '*  her  money  or  her  life."  She  said 
to  these  desperadoes:  ''  I  am  alone  and  unpro- 
tected. You  will  not  harm  a  helpless  lady." 
She  gave  them  food  to  appease  their  hunger, 
and  they  left,  robbing,  destroying  other  prop- 
erty, and  shooting  down  numbers  on  the  street. 

After  a  time  order  was  restored,  and  the  mis- 
sion work  which  had  been  checked  was  again 
prosecuted  with  great  success.  But  all  these 
cares  and  responsibilities  told  upon  Miss  Ran- 
kin's health,  and  she  found  it  necessary  to  leave 

64 


MELINDA  RANKIN 

Mexico.  *'I  had  entertained  the  hope,"  she 
said,  ''of  dying  on  the  field,  with  the  Mexican 
people,  with  them  to  rise  in  the  morning  of  the 
resurrection  as  a  testimony  that  I  had  desired 
their  salvation."  It  was  a  tremendous  struggle 
for  her  to  give  up  the  work.  "  Never  did  the 
trophies  of  Christ's  love  appear  so  precious  as 
when  I  felt  I  must  tear  myself  away." 

She  had  developed  the  work  until  it  assumed 
proportions  which  required  ordained  ministers. 
This  fact  and  failing  health  were  indications 
that  her  work  in  Mexico  was  done.  Mission- 
aries of  Protestant  denominations  came  forward, 
saying,  ''  We  will  take  Mexico  for  Christ."  In 
1872  she  returned  home  and  made  over  her 
work  to  the  American  Board.  For  twenty  years 
she  had  toiled,  wept,  suffered,  prayed,  and  re- 
linquishing her  hold  cost  a  severe  struggle. 
''  I  passed  a  night  of  meditation  and  prayer  over 
it,"  she  says,  "but  about  the  fourth  watch  ap- 
peared One  who  in  other  scenes  of  trial  had 
come  walking  upon  the  sea  of  trouble  and 
calmed  my  anxious  heart." 

This  done,  she  occasionally  visited  the 
churches,  interesting  the  people  in  Mexico, 
then  retired  to  her  home  in  Bloomington,  111., 
where,  on  December  7,  1888,  in  her  seventy- 
seventh  year,  she  passed  to  her  home  above. 

65 


THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB 


LYDIA  MARY  FAY 

POSSIBLY  the  name  of  no  one  missionary 
woman  is  more  lovingly  remembered  in 
China  than  that  of  Lydia  Mary  Fay.  She  was 
one  of  the  heroic  band  of  women  that  laid  broad 
and  deep  foundations  in  the  early  days  of  mis- 
sionary work  in  the  Chinese  empire.  One  of 
her  associates  said  of  her,  ' '  She  was  one  of  the 
truest  women  and  one  of  the  best  and  most 
efficient  missionaries  that  ever  lived,  and  her 
life  was  a  daily  testimony  to  those  about  her 
of  the  beauty  and  happiness  of  self-sacrificing 
duty." 

Miss  Fay  was  a  native  of  Essex  County, 
Va.,  but  went  out  from  Albany,  N.  Y.  She 
was  appointed  as  a  missionary  teacher  under 
Bishop  Boone,  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  and  sailed  for  China,  in  the  ship 
Horatio,  November  8,  1850 — the  first  single 
woman  sent  from  America  to  China  by  a  mis- 
sionary society.  She  had  a  remarkably  well- 
trained  mind  and  a  heart  full  of  human  sympa- 
thy, and  was  qualified  in  a  peculiar  manner  for 
the  arduous  work  that  awaited  her.  Writing 
to  a  friend  soon  after  her  arrival,  she  said:  "■  It 
is  a  difficult  thing  to  keep  the  heart  at  the 
spiritual  heights  it  has  gained,  and  perhaps  the 

66 


LYDIA    MARY    FAY 

first  rude  shock  to  the  young  missionary's  faith, 
on  his  arrival  in  heathen  lands,  is  the  utter  in- 
difference of  the  people,  the  clouds  of  incense 
that  dim  his  sight,  and  the  harsh  music  that 
deafens  his  ears,  as  he  finds  himself  in  some 
lofty  temple,  near  huge  idols,  before  whom 
crowds  are  prostrating  themselves  and  offering 
all  the  worship  their  darkened,  untaught  hearts 
are  capable  of,  and  I  exclaim,  '  Who  is  sufficient 
for  these  things,  and  how  can  the  still,  small 
voice  of  the  Spirit  ever  touch  the  hearts  of  these 
noisy  idolaters,  or  how  can  the  missionary  be 
seen  through  the  clouds  of  incense,  or  the  voice 
be  heard  in  the  din  of  gongs  and  drums?'  "  But 
by  ''patient  continuance  "  the  impress  of  her 
mind  and  heart  was  soon  made  manifest. 

She  established  in  her  own  house  in  Shanghai 
a  boarding  school  for  boys,  which  she  called  her 
'*  gravest  responsibility,"  as  through  this  agency 
she  hoped  to  raise  up  teachers  and  preachers 
who  would  carry  on  future  work.  She  not  only 
taught  in  the  school,  carried  all  the  domestic 
cares,  provided  for  the  clothing,  kept  all  the 
finances,  but  devoted  much  time  to  the  study 
and  translation  of  the  Chinese  language — surely 
enough  for  one  woman.  But  besides  this  she 
had  the  oversight  of  boys'  day  schools,  con- 
ducted a  class  of  student  teachers,  and  had  the 
care  of  several   girls'   schools,  and  in   all   she 

67 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

sought  not  only  to  impart  knowledge,  but  to  de- 
velop a  deep  .spiritual  experience,  and  all  who 
came  under  her  influence  felt  her  power. 

While  busy  with  all  these  multiplied  labors  she 
lived  most  frugally,  without  many  of  the  com- 
forts which  are  generally  thought  indispensable 
in  an  inhospitable  climate,  and  she  was  not 
without  her  afflictions ;  the  Master  called  her  to 
pass  through  many  severe  experiences  in  the 
twenty-eight  years  of  her  residence. 

At  the  close  of  her  twenty-fifth  year  the  school 
which  she  had  established  was  made  over  to  the 
Episcopal  Board.  This  was  an  occasion  of  deep 
interest,  and  was  duly  celebrated.  She  was 
permitted  to  see  her  small  beginning  develop 
into  Doane  Hall  and  Theological  School,  with 
president,  professors,  and  with  ten  Chinese 
teachers,  and  to  see  some  of  her  pupils  in  the 
Christian  ministry.  She  had  gone  forth  weep- 
ing, but  was  permitted  to  gather  in  some 
sheaves.  This  anniversary  was  held  in  her  own 
house,  and  was  largely  attended.  A  transla- 
tion of  an  address  was  read,  from  a  large  num- 
ber of  Chinese,  congratulating  ''Lady  Fay" 
on  the  memorable  occasion.  The  address  was 
drawn  up  and  signed  by  Chinese  who  had 
known  ''Lady  Fay"  for  more  than  twenty 
years,  who  had  been  impressed  by  the  sim- 
plicity and  purity  of  her  life   and   devotion  to 

68 


LYDIA    MARY    FAY 

their  interests,  and  who  compared  her  to  the 
illustrious  literary  women  of  China.  The  vari- 
ous translations  that  she  had  made  from  Eng- 
lish into  Chinese  and  from  Chinese  into  English 
were  referred  to,  and  a  tribute  paid  to  her 
knowledge  of  the  classics,  for  her  reputation  as 
a  Chinese  scholar  was  the  highest  of  any  woman 
in  China.  The  closing  words  of  this  address  were 
memorable:  ''If  our  countrywomen  ever  de- 
served a  mark  of  distinction  for  virtue  and  filial 
piety,  much  more  does  this  American  teacher 
deserve  such  a  mark  of  imperial  favor,  as  her 
life  is  sacrificed  not  for  father,  mother,  hus- 
band, friend,  or  even  for  her  own  people,  but 
for  a  far-off  and  ancient  people  who  had  no 
claim  upon  her  sympathy  except  through  the 
religion  of  Jesus,  the  Redemer  of  the  world." 
A  poet  of  high  position  in  the  Chinese  literary 
world  wrote  her  praises  in  verse,  and  ascribed 
to  her  all  the  charms  that  belong  to  woman  and 
all  the  intellectual  qualities  that  are  attributed 
to  man.  It  is  said  that  no  other  foreigner  in 
modern  times  has  been  thus  honored  in  China. 
Miss  Fay  aided  Dr.  Wells  Williams  in  the 
revision  of  the  manuscript  of  his  Syllabic 
Dictionary.  She  was  engaged  in  this  work 
for  nineteen  months,  and  with  the  aid  of 
a    Chinese      assistant     revised     every  one    of 

the    sixty    thousand    phrases.       She   was  also 

69 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

a  contributor  to  magazines  and  papers,  and 
published  a  good  translation  of  the  various 
official  documents  connected  with  the  emperor's 
marriage  in  1872. 

In  all  these  twenty-eight  years  Miss  Fay 
visited  America  but  once.  Her  excessive  la- 
bors, however,  told  upon  her,  and  she  became 
conscious  that  her  work  was  drawing  to  a  close. 
''The  great  trial  of  sickness,"  she  writes,  "is 
being  laid  aside  from  work.  I  must  keep  it  in 
mind  that  '  they  also  serve  who  only  stand 
and  wait.'  "  Her  health  continued  to  fail,  and 
a  trip  to  Che-foo  was  recommended,  but  it 
brought  no  relief.  She  had  a  great  desire  to 
return  to  her  home  in  Shanghai,  but  this  was 
denied  her,  and  on  October  5,  1878,  surrounded 
by  missionaries  and  loving  friends,  she  passed 
to  her  eternal  home.  The  funeral  was  attended 
by  a  large  number  of  visitors  and  residents,  and 
the  flag  of  the  United  vStates  Consulate  was  put 
at  half  mast  in  token  of  respect  to  this  noble 
woman.  She  rests  in  the  foreign  cemetery  of 
Che-foo,  a  beautiful  spot  overlooking  the  sea, 
and  she  lives  again  and  again  in  the  lives  of 
those  whom  she  labored  to  bring  to  the  loving 

knowledge  of  the  Christ. 

70 


MARY  BRISCOE  BALDWIN 


MARY  BRISCOE  BALDWIN 

Missionary  to  Greece  and  Joppa 

IN  an  old-fashioned  Virginia  mansion  in  the 
Shenandoah  Valley  Mary  Briscoe  Baldwin 
was  born  on  the  20th  of  May,  181 1.  Her 
mother  was  a  niece  of  James  Madison,  fourth 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  Mary  was 
the  second  daughter  in  a  family  of  twelve,  all 
of  whom  received  their  education  from  private 
tutors.  Early  she  showed  a  strong  and  original 
character,  and  had  her  own  opinion  on  all  sub- 
jects coming  under  her  observation.  During 
her  girlish  days  she  surrendered  herself  to  her 
vSaviour,  after  deep  conviction  of  sin,  and  was 
ever  after  a  most  loving,  earnest,  and  devoted 
disciple.  Bishop  Meade,  of  the  Protestant  Epis- 
copal Church,  was  a  relative  who  greatly  influ- 
enced and  helped  her  in  her  religious  life. 

Her  Christian  character  was  put  to  a  great 
test  by  the  death  of  her  parents,  the  breaking 
up  of  the  family  home,  and  the  separation  of 
the  children.  When  about  twenty  years  of  age 
she  went  to  Stanton,  Pa.,  to  visit  relatives,  and 
here  she  made  the  decision  that  influenced  her 
future  life.  She  says  :  "  I  grew  weary  of  fash- 
ionable life.  For  some  years  I  had  felt  a  great 
desire  to  be  directly  engaged  in  some  Christian 

71 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

work,  especially  in  extending  the  knowledge  of 
the  Gospel  among  my  fellow-creatures,  such  as 
is  the  privilege  of  clergymen  to  do,  but,  being  a 
woman,  I  could  not  possibly  enter  the  ministry. 
Next  to  this  my  thoughts  turned  to  the  life  of  a 
missionary,  and  this  seemed  a  position  far  too 
high  and  heavenly  for  me  to  attain  and  enjoy." 
During  this  period  she  was  offered  a  position  as 
teacher  in  a  young  ladies'  boarding  school  at 
Stanton,  which  she  accepted,  and  while  there 
the  call  came  to  devote  her  life  to  missionary 
work. 

The  Protestant  Episcopal  Society  received  a 
letter  from  Mrs.  Hill,  of  Athens,  stating  her 
pressing  need  of  assistance,  and  urgently  re- 
questing that  some  one  be  sent  to  aid  her  in  the 
schools  she  had  established.  As  Miss  Baldwin 
had  some  acquaintance  with  Mrs.  Hill,  she  was 
interested  especially  in  that  work,  and  after  a 
long  consideration  of  the  matter  she  wrote,  ''  I 
rose  up  with  a  firm  and  steady  purpose  of  heart 
and  said,  '  I  will  go.'  "  Miss  Baldwin  was  one 
of  the  first  unmarried  missionaries  to  go  out 
from  America.  Her  decision  was  a  surprise  to 
her  friends,  some  of  whom  said  she  was  "  going 
on  a  wild-goose  chase;"  or,  the  old  story,  that 
she  was  ''  throwing  herself  away;"  or,  for  her 
it  was   **a  descent  in   the   social  scale."     But 

none  of  these  things   moved  her.     After  her 

72 


MARY  BRISCOE  BALDWIN 

decision  was  made  she  at  once  commenced  her 
preparations — visited  her  old  home,  and  traveled 
over  the  country  visiting-  many  points  of  inter- 
est. She  entered  the  service  not  for  worldly 
gain ;  her  salary  was  only  two  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars,  but  she  was  willing  to  supplement 
the  deficiency  by  drawing  upon  her  own  finan- 
cial resources. 

Arriving  in  Greece,  she  realized  with  great 
delight  that  her  life  was  to  be  passed  in  a  land 
full  of  stirring  memories.  She  was  to  labor 
among  a  people  to  whom  Paul  preached  the 
truth  about  the  "■  unknown  God  "  and  declared 
salvation  by  Jesus  Christ  alone.  The  people 
of  Greece  had  a  wonderful  history,  with  great 
genius  and  refinement,  with  a  Church  pro- 
fessedly Christian,  but  corrupt,  and  they  needed 
a  pure,  practical,  sound  form  of  doctrine  and 
an  open  Bible.  The  worship  of  the  poorer  and 
unlearned  classes  consisted  mostly  in  the  adora- 
tion of  pictures,  images,  and  sacred  symbols,  or 
in  chanting  prayers  in  the  olden  tongue.  Many 
years  of  cruel  oppression  and  taxation  had  im- 
poverished them,  so  that  the  missionary  had  to 
minister  to  their  bodily  wants  as  well  as  to  their 
soul  needs,  and  Miss  Baldwin,  comprehending 
the  situation,  fulfilled  her  highest  conception  of 
duty  in  ministering  to  their  every  need. 

Dr.  and  Mrs.  Hill,  American  missionaries 
73 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

who  had  established  a  school  and  found  the 
project  developing  on  their  hands,  sought  the 
assistance  of  Miss  Baldwin,  who  took  the  entire 
charge  of  the  sewing  department.  She  soon 
won  the  love  of  the  girls  and  the  esteem  of  the 
parents,  who  valued  the  art  which  enabled  their 
girls  to  maintain  themselves. 

After  the  acknowledgment  of  Greek  independ- 
ence the  court  was  removed  to  Athens.  Mil- 
liners and  dressmakers  followed  in  the  train, 
and  wanted  girls  who  could  use  their  needles; 
and  the  only  ones  who  knew  anything  of  the 
womanly  art  of  sewing  were  found  to  be  those 
whom  Miss  Baldwin  had  taught.  The  great 
temporal  blessings  thus  conferred  on  impover- 
ished families  were  such  that  Miss  Baldwin  be- 
came known  among  the  native  population  as 
''  Good  Lady  Mary,"  and  when  she  appeared 
on  the  streets  the  people  were  ready  to  do  her 
homage.  By  this  means  a  ready  entrance  was 
made  for  the  Christian  teaching.  Her  great  ob- 
ject was  to  civilize  and  Christianize  the  daugh- 
ters, and  through  them  the  homes  of  the  peo- 
ple ;  and  with  three  hundred  and  fifty  children 
under  her  care  she  had  ample  opportunity  to 
exert  an  influence.  Not  only  did  she  train 
Greek  girls  to  be  good  daughters,  wives,  and 
mothers,  but  she  educated  many  of  the  better 
class   for  teachers,   who   in   their  turn  labored 

74 


MARY  BRISCOE  BALDWIN 

among  the  Greek  and  Turkish  women,  and  thus 
perpetuated  her  influence.  After  laboring  for 
eleven  years  it  became  necessary  for  her  to  seek 
relaxation,  and,  in  company  with  friends,  she 
took  a  trip  through  Italy.  Not  receiving  the  de- 
sired benefit,  she  made  an  excursion  through 
Greece,  then  came  to  her  home  in  America; 
but  after  a  visit  of  a  year  returned  to  Greece, 
taking  her  sister,  and  established  a  boarding 
school  in  connection  with  the  day  school  con- 
ducted by  Mrs.  Hill.  This  school  was  for  the 
higher  class  of  girls  in  Athens,  and  to  this 
project  Miss  Baldwin  devoted  much  of  her  own 
private  fortune  until  it  was  a  success,  so  that 
practically  she  became  the  founder  of  Christian 
female  education  in  the  country.  She  trained 
all  pupils  coming  under  her  with  a  heart  train- 
ing of  which  the  blessings  and  benefits  were 
felt  to  the  remotest  corners  of  Greece. 

During  1866,  when  the  Christians  of  Crete 
revolted  against  the  Turkish  government,  many 
impoverished  and  destitute  Cretans  fled  to 
Athens.  Among  these  refugees  Miss  Baldwin 
labored  for  two  or  more  years  with  great  suc- 
cess, establishing  day  schools  and  Sunday 
schools,  feeding  the  hungry,  providing  the 
women  and  girls  with  material  for  work  and 
teaching^  them  to  sew  and  knit,  and  thus  o-'iv- 
ing  employment  to  hundreds.     As  the  Cretans 

75 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH   FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

returned  to  their  home  Miss  Baldwin  felt  that, 
having  spent  thirty-three  years  there,  her  work 
in  Greece  was  done,  and  she  requested  the  Mis- 
sionary Committee  to  transfer  her  to  Jaffa — the 
ancient  Joppa — as  her  nephew  had  been  ap- 
pointed consul  at  that  place.  Her  desire  was 
gratified,  and  she  went  to  live  with  her  sister 
and  nephew  and  to  assist  in  the  Protestant 
schools.  She  became  associated  w^ith  Miss  Ar- 
nott,  a  Scotch  woman,  who  for  some  time  had 
been  teaching  a  girls'  school.  Here  was  a  great 
field  among  Jewesses,  Greek  Christians,  and 
Moslems.  She  had  often  spoken  of  Palestine 
with  eager  longing,  and  it  was  an  epoch  wdien 
she  commenced  laboring  in  Joppa.  For  eight 
years  she  labored  unremittingly,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  one  brief  visit  home. 

On  account  of  failure  in  sight  she  was  com- 
pelled to  sever  her  relations  with  Miss  Arnott's 
school,  but,  after  rest  and  medical  treatment, 
she  went  to  work  in  the  boys'  school  established 
by  her  nephew.  Funds  being  required  to  put 
up  a  bulding,  she  returned,  after  an  absence  of 
twenty-five  years,  to  America  and  collected 
money  for  the  purpose.  While  visiting  one  of 
the  churches  she  fell,  meeting  with  a  serious  in- 
jury, and  from  the  time  of  her  fall  to  her  death 
she  was  seldom  free  from  pain,  day  or  night. 

Miss  Baldwin    returned,  however,  to  toil  on, 
76 


MARY  BRISCOE  BALDWIN 

and  was  supremely  happy  in  her  work.  Writing 
to  a  friend,  she  said:  "  As  to  whether  I  am  re- 
ceiving the  '  hundredfold  '  promised  in  the  Gos- 
pel to  those  who  forsake  houses  and  brethren 
and  lands  for  Christ's  sake,  I  reply,  '  Yes;  I  am 
enjoying  the  fulfillment  of  this  promise,  because 
I  esteem  the  position  of  a  missionary  of  the  Gos- 
pel of  Christ  the  very  highest  privilege  which 
could  be  bestowed  upon  me  while  on  earth.'  " 

The  associations  of  Palestine  had  a  charm  for 
her.  It  was  the  Holy  Land !  the  land  full  of 
memories  connected  with  the  great  scheme  of 
redemption.  She  delighted  to  be  at  work  in  the 
very  city  where  Peter  raised  Dorcas  from  the 
dead,  and  where  he  had  a  vision  that  salvation 
was  for  the  Gentiles  as  well  as  the  Jews.  But 
the  long  period  of  patient,  unfaltering  work, 
through  dark  and  cloudy  as  well  as  through 
bright  and  sunny  days,  was  telling  upon  her 
physically,  and  she  struggled  heroically,  al- 
though vainly,  against  pain  and  weakness,  and 
the  weary  wheels  stood  still  June  21,  1877,  after 
forty-two  years  of  loving  service. 

She  was  buried  on  a  bluff  overlooking  the 
Jordan  Valley,  and  friends  placed  over  her  a 
tombstone  of  Greek  marble  with  the  appropriate 
and  beautiful  inscription : 

"  There  is  no  difference  between  the  Jew  and  the  Greek  :  for 
the  same  Lord  over  all  is  rich  unto  all  that  call  upon  him." 

77 


THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 


MRS.  BISHOP  GOBAT 

THE  REV.  SAMUEL  GOBAT,  D.D.,  was 
for  many  years  the  Anglican  Missionary 
Bishop  of  Jerusalem.  Maria  Zeller,  who  be- 
came his  wife,  was  born  on  the  9th  of  Novem- 
ber, 18 1 3,  at  Zofingen,  in  Switzerland.  Her 
father,  director  of  schools  in  that  place,  had 
eleven  children,  of  whom  Maria  was  the  second. 
In  18 19  he  founded  a  home  for  destitute  chil- 
dren, and  soon  after  an  institution  for  training 
schoolmasters  in  Bruggen.  In  this  place,  in  an 
atmosphere  of  simple  faith,  love,  and  self-deny- 
ing work,  Maria  spent  her  youth.  Under  the 
influence  and  guidance  of  their  excellent  mother 
she  and  her  sisters  learned  to  give  a  helping 
hand  everywhere,  so  lightening  the  burdens  of 
others.  She  received  a  part  of  her  education 
away  from  home,  returning  after  a  few  years  to 
be  her  mother's  right  hand  in  every  depart- 
ment of  household  duty.  She  had  a  deeply  re- 
ligious nature,  and  was  beloved  for  her  unself- 
ishness and  her  happy,  contented  disposition. 
Her  simple  faith  and  her  love  to  her  Saviour 
remained  unchanged  to  the  close  of  her  long 
life. 

Toward   the   end    of   1833  the    Rev.    Samuel 

Gobat,  of  the  Church  Missionary  Society,  became 

78 


MRS.    BISHOP    GOBAT. 


MRS.   BISHOP  GOBAT 

acquainted  with  the  Zellers.  He  was  returning 
to  Abyssinia,  his  field  of  labor,  after  a  time 
spent  at  home,  where  he  had  been  speaking  of 
the  work  in  Abyssinia  and  the  great  need  for 
more  laborers.  He  and  Maria  Zeller  were  mu- 
tually attracted  to  one  another,  and,  the  consent 
of  her  parents  having  been  gained,  the  young 
couple  were  married  in  May,  1834.  They  left 
Switzerland  soon  after,  and  started  on  the  diffi- 
cult journey  to  Abyssinia. 

They  had  a  rough  time  in  traveling  on  the 
Red  Sea  in  an  Arab  sailing  vessel  and  through 
the  desert  on  camels.  They  could  only  take  the 
most  necessary  articles  with  them,  and  had 
many  hardships  to  endure,  but  they  were  strong 
in  their  trust  in  God  and  in  their  love  to  each 
other.  Very  soon  after  reaching  Massowah  Mr. 
Gobat  fell  very  ill,  but  resolved,  if  possible,  to 
push  on  into  Abyssinia,  in  order  to  introduce  a 
young  brother  missionary  to  the  work.  The 
latter  had  been  appointed  in  consequence  of  Mr. 
Gobat's  eloquent  and  earnest  representation  of 
the  need  for  volunteers.  With  great  difficulty 
they  reached  Adowa,  where  Mr.  Gobat  was 
confined  for  two  years  to  his  bed.  Now  be- 
gan a  time  when  the  faith  and  devotion  of  this 
exceptional  woman  were  tested  to  the  utmost. 
When  her  first  baby  was  born  Mr.  Gobat  seemed 

almost  dying.     There  was  no  possibility  of  get- 

81 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

ting  any  suitable  food,  and  they  had  but  few 
medicines,  so  that  the  courage  of  the  poor 
young  mother  almost  failed.  But  God  is  a  very 
present  help  in  trouble ;  and  here,  too,  he  raised 
them  up  kind  friends  among  the  natives,  who 
did  much  to  make  the  remainder  of  their  stay 
bearable. 

It  is  strange  that,  notwithstanding  all  the  tri- 
als they  had  to  endure  in  that  land,  the  recollec- 
tions of  Abyssinia  were,  to  the  end  of  their  lives, 
dear  and  most  helpful  to  them.  In  after  years, 
when  some  poor  Abyssinians  visited  Jerusalem, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gobat  lavished  love  and  kindnesses 
on  them.  Mr.  Gobat's  health  continued  precari- 
ous ;  a  doctor  who  happened  to  be  traveling  in 
the  country  pronounced  his  case  hopeless  if  he 
did  not  immediately  return  to  Europe,  and  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Gobat  sorrowfully  turned  their  backs 
on  the  country  where  they  had  hoped  to  labor 
for  the  Lord.  The  journey  back  was  most  try- 
ing, but  its  benefit  to  Mr.  Gobat's  health  was 
little  short  of  miraculous.  They  reached  ]\Ias- 
sowah  with  great  difficulty,  and  embarked  in  an 
Arab  boat  for  the  journey  up  the  Red  Sea.  The 
boat  was  so  small  that  the  only  cabin  measured 
eight  feet  by  four;  they  could  not  stand  upright 
in  it,  and  had  scarcely  room  on  deck  to  walk. 
The  Arabs  had  laid  in  provisions  for  th^'ee  weeks 

only,  but  they  were  thirty-eight  days  en  route, 

82 


MRS.   BISHOP  GOBAT 

with  no  food  save  rice  cooked  in  half -putrid 
water.  The  goat  died  which  Mr.  Gobat  had 
taken  on  board  to  provide  milk  for  the  infant, 
and  the  child  became  seriously  ill  from  want  of 
nourishment. 

After  landing  at  Koseir  the  journey  through 
the  desert  commenced.  Mrs.  Gobat  could  never 
speak  of  that  journey  without  tears.  It  was  lit- 
tle wonder  that  her  brave  heart  sank  and  en- 
durance failed,  for  they  had  to  travel  many 
days  in  the  scorching  sun,  without  a  good  hat 
or  an  umbrella,  with  very  coarse  food  and  with 
scarcely  any  water.  Fortunately,  Mr.  Gobat 
was  better,  but  poor  Mrs.  Gobat  was  completely 
worn  out.  The  infant  became  worse,  and 
moaned  and  cried  night  and  day,  so  that  rest 
was  out  of  the  question.  At  that  time  the 
brave  heart  of  the  young  mother  nearly  de- 
spaired, faith  was  dim,  and  God  seemed  very  far 
off;  but  such  bitter  hours  were  short,  and  her 
husband's  meek,  patient  bearing  of  all  these 
trials  was  a  great  help  to  her,  and  enabled  her 
once  more  to  say,  '*  Though  He  slay  me,  yet 
will  I  trust  in  him." 

In  order  to  reach  Cairo  they  had  to  travel  a 
few  days  by  boat  on  the  Nile,  and  now  hope 
revived  that  the  baby  might  be  .saved.  Alas! 
this  was  not  to  be,  for  a  few  hours  before  reach- 
ing Cairo  the  little  one  died.      Mrs.   Gobat  sat 

83 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

with  the  dead  infant  in  her  arms  during  the  re- 
mainder of  the  journey,  shedding  bitter,  una- 
vailing tears  over  all  that  was  left  to  her  of  her 
firstborn. 

In  Cairo  they  buried  the  child.  Five  weeks 
after  their  arrival  a  second  baby  w^as  given 
them,  whom  they  pathetically  named  Benoni. 
Not  long  after  they  reached  Mrs.  Gobat's  be- 
loved Switzerland,  wdiere,  among  her  own  peo- 
ple and  her  native  mountains,  she  found  health 
for  body  and  mind. 

Two  years  later  they  went  to  Malta,  being 
sent  to  superintend  there  the  translation  of  the 
Bible  into  Arabic,  and  to  take  charge  of  the 
printing  press.  In  1845  Mr.  Gobat  was  ap- 
pointed vice  principal  of  the  Malta  Protestant 
College ;  but  he  had  not  been  there  a  year  before 
he  was  nominated  by  P'rederick  William  IV  of 
Prussia  to  the  see  of  Jerusalem.  This  call  he 
could  not  refuse,  seeing  in  it  a  summons  to 
work  in  a  desirable  part  of  the  Lord's  vineyard. 
Dr.  Gobat  was  consecrated  a  bishop  of  the 
Church  of  England  in  July,  1846.  He  and 
Mrs.  Gobat  then  proceeded  to  Jerusalem,  where 
they  entered  upon  the  work  with  the  greatest 
energy. 

Mrs.  Gobat,  notwithstanding  her  large  family 

and  many  duties,  was  indefatigable  in  her  labors 

of  love  during  those  first  years  in  Jerusalem. 

84 


MRS.  BISHOP  GOBAT 

She  was  her  husband's  helpmeet  in  everything, 
taking  keen  interest  in  all  the  schools  and  mis- 
sions. These  schools  were  all  begun  by  Bishop 
Gobat,  and  so  successfully  carried  on  that  a  year 
before  his  death  there  were  fourteen  hundred 
children  under  instruction  in  them. 

The  rule  that  guided  his  wife  in  all  things 
was  love.  She  could  not  witness  grief  without 
weeping  with  those  that  wept ;  she  could  not  see 
a  case  of  distress  without  helping.  Her  hospi- 
tality was  well  known  in  Jerusalem,  and  many 
travelers  to  the  Holy  Land  have  testified  to 
this. 

All  belonging  to  the  mission  were  received  by 
her  with  kindness ;  the  poor  and  the  stricken 
ones  sought  her  out.  For  all  the  schools  and 
mission  institutions  she  cared  with  a  mother's 
interest,  but  she  specially  loved  the  school  and 
orphanage  on  Mount  Zion.  She  knew  every 
one  of  the  children  by  name,  and  cared  for  their 
wants.  This  institution,  with  more  than  sixty 
pupils,  was  supported  by  voluntary  contributions, 
the  bishop  and  Mrs.  Gobat  making  up  all  defi- 
ciencies out  of  their  private  purse. 

When,  in  spring,  1878,  they  left  for  their  last 
visit  to  Europe  they  were  not  quite  decided 
about  returning ;  but  the  bishop  said  to  his  wife, 
"  Let  us  come  back  to  Jerusalem  to  die."  Both 
felt  that  Jerusalem  was  their   only  home,  and 

85 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

the  place  where  they  would  like  to  end  their 
days. 

They  went  to  Europe,  but  in  the  autumn  the 
bishop  had  a  stroke  of  paralysis,  which  alarmed 
Mrs.  Gobat,  and  rendered  the  venerable  man  so 
feeble  that  it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty 
they  accomplished  the  journey  back.  In  spite 
of  all  the  loving  care  lavished  on  him  he  sank, 
and  early  on  a  Sabbath  morning,  at  the  age  of 
eighty,  he  entered  into  rest. 

This  blow  was  a  crushing  one ;  but  Mrs.  Go- 
bat  tried  to  say,  "  It  is  the  Lord,"  and  was  most 
grateful  for  the  loving  ministrations  of  her  chil- 
dren. But  it  was  evident  that  the  silver  cord 
was  well-nigh  loosed ;  their  lives  had  been  so 
closely  knit  together  in  joy  and  sorrow  for  the 
long  period  of  forty-five  years.  She  said  repeat- 
edly, "  I  have  no  more  work  to  do  in  Jerusalem ; 
my  task  is  finished."  On  Sunday,  though  not 
really  ill,  she  asked  to  be  prayed  for  in  the  pub- 
lic services — not  that  she  might  get  well,  but 
that  she  might  be  ready  to  die.  On  Monday  she 
w^as  feverish,  and  the  doctor  bade  her  stay  in 
bed.  She  liked  to  have  the  children  with  her, 
but  gradually  became  indifferent  to  all  earthly 
things.  On  the  Thursday  night  consciousness 
had  quite  fled.  She  was  very  restless  for  some 
hours,  having  acute  inflammation  of  the  brain ; 

but  God  did  not  allow  her  to  suffer  long.     On  the 

86 


MRS.  BISHOP  GOBAT 


istof  August,  1879,  she  peacefully  breathed  her 
last.  Her  death  occurred  not  quite  twelve 
weeks  after  her  husband's.  Truly  they  were 
**  lovely  and  pleasant  in  their  lives,  and  in  death 
they  w^erenot  divided." 


87 


THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB 


MISS  ALDERSEY 

IT  is  a  remarkable  vStory,  the  way  in  which  God 
puts  into  the  hearts  of  women  whom  he  has 
qualified  to  enter  into  doors  which  he  has 
opened,  and  to  lay  the  foundations  of  his  Church 
among  the  women  of  the  world.  China,  that 
vast  and  populous  country,  was  not  open  to 
Protestant  missionary  effort  until  1806,  when 
Dr.  Morrison  and  Dr.  Milne  with  their  wives 
attempted  to  enter ;  but  they  toiled  on  for  years 
without  sympathy  or  results.  By  the  treaty  of 
1842  not  only  was  Hongkong  ceded  to  Great 
Britain,  but  other  ports  were  thrown  open,  with 
permission  to  erect  churches  and  establish 
schools.  Mrs.  Gutzlaff  and  some  other  women 
entered  the  open  ports,  scattered  portions  of  the 
Scriptures,  and  offered  to  teach  any  who  were 
willing  to  learn.  A  school  was  started  in  Macao 
with  twenty-three  children,  when  Mrs.  Gutzlaff, 
in  1866,  wrote  home  for  help,  saying:  "Make 
haste  and  send  us  a  helper,  for  there  is  so  much 
to  do.  Thousands  of  children  are  here  to  be 
trained,  and  only  one  teacher." 

While  these  doors  were  being  opened  God 
was  preparing  the  heart  of  an  English  woman 
to  devote  her  life  to  the  elevation  of  Chinese 
women.     It  was  an  heroic  undertaking  for  an 


MISS  ALDERSEY 

unmarried  woman  to  leave  home,  and  the  asso- 
ciations dear  to  her,  and  enter  upon  a  life  of 
whose  isolation  and  sacrifice  we  in  these  days 
can  have  little  comprehension,  but  Miss  Alder- 
sey  had  long  had  a  desire  to  go  to  China.  As  a 
friend  of  Dr.  Morrison  she  had,  under  his  in- 
struction, when  only  nineteen  years  of  age,  ap- 
plied herself  to  the  study  of  the  Chinese  lan- 
guage. She  belonged  to  a  prominent  and 
wealthy  family,  but  knowing  that  the  life  of  a 
missionary  had  its  limitations,  and  privations, 
she  studied  in  every  way  to  prepare  herself  to 
meet  and  endure  with  Christian  bravery  what 
might  come  to  her. 

As  early  as  1832  she  made  preparations  to  ac- 
company a  missionary  party  to  the  Straits  of 
Malacca  to  work  among  Chinese  emigrants,  but 
just  as  she  was  ready  to  sail  a  death  in  the  fam- 
ily frustrated  her  plans.  This  was  evidently  a 
great  trial  to  her,  but  she  accepted  what  she  saw 
to  be  her  duty — devoted  herself  to  the  care  of 
five  motherless  children — and  for  the  time  aban- 
doned all  thought  of  going  to  China.  Five 
years  afterward,  in  1837,  the  way  unexpectedly 
opened.  She  accompanied  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Med- 
hurst  to  the  East,  and  settled  first  in  Java,  where 
she  opened  an  Indo-Chinese  school  and  did 
some  medical  work,  thus  having  an  opportunity 

of   giving  religious  instruction.      Two  of  her 

89 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

pupils  in  Java  renounced  heathenism,  were  bap- 
tized, and  followed  her  to  China,  becoming  effi- 
cient helpers.  In  1844  Miss  Aldersey,  having 
overcome  great,  almost  overwhelming,  difficul- 
ties, went  to  Ningpo,  and  this  place  was  the 
scene  of  successful  labors  for  thirteen  of  the 
twenty-three  years  of  her  missionary  career. 
She  established  work  among  girls  and  women. 
An  elderly  Chinese  Christian  in  Shanghai,  who 
was  one  of  the  two  girls  who  were  the  first  pu- 
pils in  this  first  school  for  girls  in  China,  after 
half  a  century  spoke  with  reverent  love  of  Miss 
Aldersey  and  her  work. 

As  a  pioneer  Miss  Aldersey  had  to  face  every 
form  of  prejudice  and  opposition.  For  some 
time  she  was  regarded  as  a  cannibal,  and  many 
were  the  stories  circulated  amonof  the  natives 
concerning  her  methods  of  taking  out  the  eyes 
of  children  and  of  murdering  all  who  went  to 
her  house.  vShe  was  in  the  habit  of  rising  early 
and  taking  a  morning  walk,  and  the  Chinese 
said  she  went  to  hold  intercourse  with  the  evil 
spirits.  Upon  one  occasion,  when  a  poor  blind 
woman  who  had  heard  the  truths  of  the  Gospel 
sought  instruction  from  Miss  Aldersey,  her 
family  were  alarmed  and  a  mob  assembled 
around  the  "barbarian"  white  woman's  house. 
They  became  so  violent  that  Miss  Aldersey  was 

compelled  to  leave  and  seek  safety  in  a  boat. 

90 


MISS  ALDERSEY     " 

But  the  hearts  of  many  of  the  natives  were  won 
through  the  Christian  spirit  she  manifested. 
She  was  very  useful  among-  the  opium  eaters 
and  among  the  blind,  and  was  permitted  to  see 
many  positions  of  influence  occupied  by  those 
she  had  trained.  Her  work  was  one  of  prepa- 
ration and  laying  foundations  for  future  results. 
But  the  time  came  for  her  to  abandon  the 
work  she  loved  so  well,  and,  having  resigned 
her  school  in  1857,  she  went  to  Australia,  where, 
active  to  the  kivSt  in  the  Lord's  service,  she 
passed  on  to  her  eternal  reward.  She  was  the 
forerunner  of  a  great  army  of  Christian  women 
who  have  given  their  lives  to  save  Chinese 
women. 

91 


THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB 

MRS.  H.  C.  MULLENS 


"Her  work  still  lives;  it  blossoms  from  the  dust, 
And  a  glad  future  holds  the  fruit  in  trust." 

IT  was  womanly  tact  that  first  penetrated  the 
homes  of  India's  women. 

Zenana  work  has  been  a  development  of  re- 
cent years.  Of  all  the  population  in  India 
women  have  most  felt  the  wrongs  and  burdens 
of  heathenism.  Despised  at  their  birth,  subject 
to  chances  of  infanticide  in  earliest  years,  or 
bartered  to  some  unknown  husband,  condemned 
by  custom  to  lifelong  imprisonment,  ignorance, 
and  ill  treatment,  neglected  in  sickness,  shut 
out  from  the  enjoyment  of  nature,  without  edu- 
cation, without  hope  in  Christ  of  a  joyful  here- 
after— such  is  the  condition  of  women  in  civil- 
ized heathendom. 

It  became  an  all-absorbing  question  among 
missionaries,  ''How  shall  we  reach  and  help 
these  women,  thus  shut  away  from  all  good  in- 
fluences?" For  it  was  evident  that  until  this 
could  be  done  very  little  progress  would  be  made 
in  missionary  work  throughout  the  country.  To 
meet  and  overcome  the  prejudice  against  the 
education  of  women  was  a  gigantic  task.  All 
the  inherited  notions  of  Hindu  social  life  were 

opposed  to  it,  and,   as  a  consequence,    efforts 

92 


MRS.  H.  C.  MULLENS 

were  often  made  in  secrecy  and  prosecuted  un- 
der great  difficulties.  The  hope  of  gaining-  ac- 
cess to  the  homes  of  the  rich  and  of  the  better 
classes  seemed  a  dream,  and  the  attempt  to 
reach  out  and  help  the  poor  was  ridiculed. 

Some  endeavors  were  made  to  establish  purely ; 
secular  schools  for  women  and  girls,  but  these 
proved  unsuccessful,  for  the  natives  said,  "We 
want  religion  taught  in  our  families,  although  it 
be  a  false  one." 

Schools  were  established  for  girls  as  early  as 
1807,  and  again  in  18 19,  and  continued  with 
more  or  less  success  all  through  the  years,  but 
it  was  oriven  to  Mrs.  Mullens  to  inauofurate  and 
make  popular  zenana  work. 

Hannah  Catherine  Lacroix  was  the  daughter 
of  the  Rev.  A.  Lacroix,  of  the  London  Mission- 
ary Society,  who  was  one  of  India's  most  gifted 
and  devoted  missionaries.  He  was  intensely 
interested  in  the  uplifting  of  India's  daughters. 
He  vSaid,  *'In  my  opinion  we  ought  to  be  any- 
thing but  sanguine  of  success  in  our  work  till 
Christianity  has  imparted  to  the  Hindus  differ- 
ent ideas  of  the  female  sex  from  those  which 
they  now  possess."  The  daughter  drank  in  the 
spirit  of  the  father.  She  became  known  as  one 
of  the  most  efficient  and  successful  zenana 
workers  in  the  country,  and  now  bears  the  title 
of  ''  The  Apostle  of  the  Zenanas." 

93 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

She  was  born  in  the  city  of  Calcutta  in  1826. 
Her  surrounding's  were  all  of  a  missionary 
character. 

Amid  the  constant  interruptions  incident  to 
the  life  of  a  missionary,  and  lacking  proper 
schools,  her  education  was  somewhat  limited, 
but  of  such  a  practical  character  that  it  proved  a 
great  preparation  for  the  work  God  had  in  store 
for  her.  She  was  naturally  very  bright  and  in- 
telligent, and  had  a  loving,  sympathetic  nature, 
which  reached  out  to  help  others.  She  spoke 
the  Bengali  language  with  great  fluency,  and 
when  her  mother  started  a  day  school  in  their 
own  garden  she  was  able  to  take  a  class  and  in- 
struct the  children,  thus  at  the  age  of  twelve 
years  commencing  her  life  work.  When  about 
fifteen  years  of  age  she  yielded  her  heart  to 
Christ  and  united  with  the  Church.  She  sought 
every  opportunity  to  do  good,  sometimes  teach- 
ing a  school  of  girls,  at  other  times  getting  to- 
gether the  servants  of  the  family  and  instruct- 
ing them,  and  in  this  way  spent  her  time 
tmtil  broader  fields  opened  before  her. 

At  the  age  of  nineteen  she  was  united  in  mar- 
riage to  the  Rev.  Dr.  Mullens,  of  the  London 
Missionary  Society.  It  was  a  very  happy  union. 
The  husband  and  wife  read  and  studied  together, 
and,  with  her  enthusiastic  and  deeply  spiritual 
nature,  she  was  ready  for  any  work  that  opened. 

94 


MRS.  H.  C.  MULLENS 

So  extensive  and  correct  did  her  acquaintance 
with  the  language  become  that  her  father  said 
that,  although  he  might  preach  better  than  she 
could,  her  knowledge  of  words  and  idioms  used 
in  familiar  conversation  was  much  superior  to 
his  own.  In  later  years  she  wrote  a  work  for 
native  Christian  women,  and  so  simple  and  beau- 
tiful was  the  style  that  it  was  sought  for  both 
by  the  missionaries  and  the  natives;  at  the  time 
of  Mrs.  Mullen's  death  it  had  been  printed  in 
twelve  of  the  dialects  of  India.  She  wrote  other 
works,  TJie  Missionary  on  the  Ganges,  Missionary 
Pietures,  etc. 

But  how  did  she  get  access  to  the  zenana?  By 
her  own  handiwork.  The  story  of  the  vslippers 
is  familiar  to  all  missionary  workers.  She  was 
skilled  in  needlework,  and  a  native  gentleman 
visiting  the  house  was  very  much  taken  with  the 
beautiful  slippers  she  was  working.  In  a  con- 
versation with  her  about  it  he  said,  "I  should 
like  my  wife  taught  such  things."  Quickly  she 
caught  at  the  suggestion,  and  the  wrought  slip- 
per helped  her  to  enter  behind  the  curtain  and 
carry  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  Then  another  op- 
portunity was  offered.  A  native  physician  with 
whom  Mrs.  Mullens  was  acquainted,  and  w^ho 
had  very  liberal  ideas  of  female  education,  was 
taken    ill   and    died.      His    daughter    had    been 

taught  by  a  native.     Mrs.  Mullens  went  to  the 
8  95 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH   FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

house  to  express  her  sympathy,  saw  the  women, 
and  was  surprised  at  the  intelligence  of  this 
daughter,  who  was  a  widow.  She  proposed  to 
her  to  start  a  school  for  women,  which  she  did, 
and  in  a  short  time  had  gathered  over  twenty ; 
Mrs.  Mullens  had  the  supervision  of  it.  In  this 
way,  by  using  good  judgment  and  making  vari- 
ous efforts,  she  soon  had  access  to  all  the  homes 
she  could  visit. 

Mrs.  Lacroix,  the  mother  of  Mrs.  Mullens, 
visited  the  zenanas  also,  and  the  wonderful 
teaching  of  these  two  ladies  was  whispered  from 
one  to  another.  Many  desired  to  see  the  mis- 
sionaries and  hear  these  **new  words."  Some 
of  the  women  in  the  zenanas  seemed  content 
with  their  lot — dressing  the  hair,  counting  their 
jewels,  or  playing  with  dolls.  But  others  pined 
for  vSomething  better.  They  forgot  their  miser- 
able surroundings  in  listening  to  the  wonderful 
story  and  in  examining  the  pictures,  books,  and 
fancy  work.  Many  of  them  took  great  interest 
in  learning  to  work.  Mrs.  Mullens  was  now  the 
intimate  and  trusted  friend  of  many  a  secluded 
Hindu  wife,  and  a  welcome  visitor  into  the  most 
carefully-guarded  apartments  of  the  Hindu 
women.  She  had  conquered  prejudice  by  her 
womanly  tact,  and  had  pointed  many  a  weary, 
heavy-laden  woman  to  the  Saviour  of  the  world. 

In  1858  she  visited  England,  and  her  enthusi- 
96 


MRS.  H.  C.  MULLENS 

asm  gave  a  great  stimulus  to  the  interest  in  the 
work,  which  was  then  just  beginning  to  attract 
general  attention.  She  gave  missionary  ad- 
dresses, and  had  wonderful  power  in  telling  her 
story.  ''  Missions  are  a  passion  with  me,"  she 
said,  ''and  I  bless  God  that  I  have  learned  to 
labor  on  so  contentedly  without  much  visible 
success." 

Upon  her  return  to  Calcutta  from  this  visit 
she  found  a  great  advance  in  public  opinion 
concerning  work  among  women.  wShe  took  up 
her  duties  again,  and  the  year  of  labor  was 
marked  by  most  cheering  instances  of  those  who 
sought  and  found  the  "true  light." 

But  she  had  accomplished  her  work.  She  had 
turned  the  keys  in  zenana  doors  to  admit  Chris- 
tian women  bearing  the  light  of  Christ's  truth 
to  the  sorrowful,  where  bondage  and  darkness, 
ignorance  and  idolatry,  had  wrought  such  sad- 
ness in  the  land. 

In  the  midst  of  labors,  and  while  preparing  a 
book  for  the  women,  she  was  taken  suddenly 
ill,  and  died  in  the  midst  of  her  family  and 
friends  in  1861,  aged  thirty-five  years.  There 
was  sorrow  in  many  an  Indian  household,  and 
the  women  who  had  been  won  by  her  tenderness 
and  love  felt  that  they  had  lost  their  all.  There 
was  general  mourning.  It  would  seem  to  our 
mortal  sight  that  she  had  only  begun  her  work, 

97 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

but  she  had  finished  it.     Among  the  multitude 

who  followed  her  remains  to  the  grave  were  a 

hundred   and  fifty  Hindu  converts,    with   their 

families,  and  one  of  the  sermons  in  her  memory 

was  preached  by  a  Hindu  minister. 

Rev.  Mr.  Sherring,  in  his  History  of  Protestant 

Missions  in  India,  says  of  her:    ''She  had  at  one 

time  under  her  own  personal  direction  zenanas 

and  girls'  schools  containing  eighty  native  ladies 

and  seventy  girls.     But  her  day  was  short.    She 

had  tried  to  enter  on  a  sphere  so  long  desired, 

to  draw  attention  to  its  capabilities,  to  give  the 

cause  of  education  a  new  and  powerful  impulse, 

to  attract  to  it  the  regard  of  willing  friends,  to 

secure  for  it   henceforth  a   fixed   place   among 

missionary  agencies  in  India.     At  last  ripened 

in  character,  most  consecrated  in  labor,  purified 

by  recent   suffering,    she   was  called   suddenly 

from  the  toils  of  earth  to  the  joyous  rest  of  the 

better  country." 

98 


MRS.    BOWEN    THOMPSON. 


MRS.  BOWEN  THOMPSON 


MRS.  BOWEN  THOMPSON 

IN  our  Master's  house  there  are  vessels  of  gold 
and  of  silver,  of  wood  and  of  clay,  and  some 
more  honored  than  others.  The  clay  ones  are 
easily  molded,  but  are  only  for  common  use ; 
the  wooden  ones  require  the  knife,  but  the  gold 
and  silver  ones  need  the  furnace  to  refine. 
Most  of  us  are  content  with  being  any  sort  of 
vessel  in  the  house,  and  are  unwilling  to  submit 
to  even  the  knife,  let  alone  the  refining  furnace. 
The  absolute  surrender  of  one's  life  and  plans 
into  our  Father's  hands  invariably  results  in 
our  finding  that  he  has  done  for  us  exceeding 
abundantly  above  all  we  had  asked  or  thought. 

We  stay-at-home  Christian  women  have  little 
idea  what  the  joy  must  be  of  looking  back  upon 
a  life  full  of  work  for  the  Master — work  that 
would  not  have  been  done  had  not  our  hands 
taken  it  up.  Of  this  description  were  the  life 
and  the  work  of  the  young  widow  who  is  the 
subject  of  the  present  sketch.  Frances  Haver- 
gal's  prayer,  '*  Lord,  prepare  me  for  whatever 
thou  art  preparing  for  me,"  seems  to  have  been 
the  habit  of  soul  of  this  lady  from  her  girlhood, 
and  marvelous  were  the  providences  by  which 
she  was  led. 

After  her  marriage  to  Dr.  Bowen  Thompson, 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

who  had  devoted  his  talents  to  the  service  of  the 
Syrian  Mission,  the  young  couple  settled  at 
Antioch,  in  1847,  ^i^cl  both  worked  earnestly 
and  well. 

Mrs.  Thompson  soon  mastered  the  language, 
and  opened  a  school  for  women  in  her  house. 
This  work  went  on  for  eighteen  months,  and 
then,  on  leaving  for  the  seat  of  war  in  the 
Crimea,  to  which  Dr.  Bowen  Thompson  seemed 
irresistibly  drawn,  the  little  school  was  left  be- 
hind— they  thought  for  a  short  time,  but  it 
proved  to  be  forever. 

It  seemed  a  strange  step  to  leave  Antioch 
for  the  seat  of  war,  but  Dr.  Thompson  had 
gained  much  knowledge  of  Eastern  epidemics, 
and  felt  eager  to  place  his  services  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  English  government.  Immedi- 
ately upon  their  arrival  at  Balaklava  Dr. 
Thompson  himself  was  stricken  down  with  the 
malignant  fever  which  raged  among  the  troops, 
and  in  a  few  days  he  died  of  the  very  epidemic 
from  which  he  had  been  so  eager  to  recover 
others.  The  poor  young  widow  laid  his  dust  to 
rest  in  the  foreign  land  and  returned  to  England 
to  make  her  home  with  her  sister. 

As  the  physician's  widow  she  entered  upon 
the  last  term  of  her  education,  in  God's  school, 
for  a  work  that  none  could  do  so  well  as  a 
widow.     The  bloody  massacre  of  the  !Maronites 


MRS.  BOWEN  THOMPSON 

by  the  Druses  of  Syria  attracted  her  sympathy. 
All  the  males  from  seven  to  seventy  years  of  age 
had  been  killed.  Possessing  ample  private 
means,  she  gave  generously  for  providing  stores 
and  clothing,  but  her  own  experience  of  widow- 
hood made  her  long  to  be  on  the  spot  to  try  to 
make  known  to  the  widows  in  Syria  the  only 
balm  for  a  broken  heart.  She  lost  no  time  in  set- 
ting out  for  Beyrout,  where  she  found  crowds  of 
distracted  women  and  girls  who  had  fled  from 
their  burning  homes  after  having  seen  their 
husbands  and  brothers  hacked  to  pieces. 

Mrs.  Thompson  at  once  opened  an  industrial 
refuge.  The  gates  were  besieged  by  hundreds 
clamoring  for  admission,  and  saying,  "  Even  if 
you  cannot  pay  us  for  our  work,  let  us  sit  and  lis- 
ten, for  our  hearts  are  sad."  ''  At  first,"  said 
Mrs.  Thompson,  "  my  heart  almost  died  within 
me  at  the  squalor,  noise,  and  misery  of  these  poor 
people.  Ignorance  and  deeply-cherished  re- 
venge chiefly  characterized  them.  When,  how- 
ever, their  Christian  teachers  read  to  them  fn)m 
the  Bible  they  would  sit  at  their  feet  and  ex- 
claim: '  We  never  heard  such  words!  '  Does  it 
mean  for  us  women?  " 

Such  was  their  avidity  to  learn  tliat,  although 

women   as  well   as  children   had  to  begin  with 

the  alphabet,  in   a   short   time  they  could  read 

the  Bible. 

103 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

Twenty  thousand  women  w^ere  crowding  the 
city  eager  to  get  work  at  even  road-mending,  so 
absolutely  destitute  had  the  cruel  massacre  left 
them.  Mrs.  Thompson  had  her  hands  full 
and  her  strength  taxed  to  the  utmost,  yet  she 
found  time  to  yisit  the  sick  and  dying  in  the 
hospitals.  Besides  all  this  she  opened  indus- 
trial schools,  ragged  schools,  and  evening 
schools.  The  magnitude  of  the  work  would 
have  overwhelmed  a  weaker  woman  and  ap- 
palled one  with  less  faith.  She  also  found  it 
necessary  to  open  a  girls'  school  for  the  upper 
classes,  who  were  willing  to  pay  a  good  fee  for 
the  privilege  of  having  their  daughters  edu- 
cated by  an  English  lady  rather  than  by  the 
French  nuns. 

She  could  not  have  set  on  foot  so  many 
branches  of  work  had  not  her  sister  and  brother- 
in-law  from  England  joined  her.  Their  home 
in  England  having  been  burned  down,  they  re- 
solved, rather  than  rebuild,  to  put  their  means 
and  their  lives  to  the  best  interest  in  work  for 
the  good  of  the  Syrian  people.  A  younger  sister 
had  already  been  helping  her  for  some  time,  so 
that  there  were  four  members  of  one  family  all 
at  work  in  Syria.  Why  should  such  an  exam- 
ple be  so  rare? 

Next  a  laundry  was  opened,  and  the  schools 

grew  and  prospered  until   Mrs.  Thompson  was 

104 


MRS.  BOWEN  THOMPSON 

amazed  at  the  magnitude  of  them.  Many  vil- 
lages and  important  centers  applied  to  have  a 
school  opened,  and  the  appeals  were  mostly  re- 
sponded to.  Infant  schools,  orphanages,  Sun- 
day schools,  schools  for  cripples,  Moslem 
boarding  schools,  and  schools  for  the  blind 
were  in  fine  working  order  in  Beyrout  and 
throughout  the  Lebanon,  supported  principally 
by  her  sister  and  herself. 

In  1869  Mrs.  Bowen  Thompson  suffered  from 
illness  induced  by  overwork  and  responsibility, 
but  even  in  bed  she  occupied  herself  with  re- 
ports and  operations  of  the  school  work.  She 
said,  once,  "  Notwithstanding  my  great  weak- 
ness, I  have  never  one  instant  lost  my  peace  of 
mind  or  the  sense  of  the  presence  of  Jesus." 

She  returned  to  England,  but  before  many 
days  the  doctor  pronounced  her  case  hopeless. 
This  did  not  disturb  her  nor  stop  her  planning 
for  her  Syrian  schools. 

She   peacefully  passed  from  earth  to  heaven 

in  November,  1869.     Of  the  bitter  lamentation 

of  the  Syrian  widows  and  orphans  we  need  say 

nothing.       Of    Mrs.    Thompson    it    may    truly 

be   said  that  she  shall  be  held  ' '  in  everlasting 

remembrance." 

105 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  ' 

MISS  SOPHIA    COOKE 

Forty-two  Years  a  Missionary 

ANOTHER  missionary  heroine  lias  fallen  at 
her  post.  Across  the  page  of  her  heroic, 
devoted,  self-sacrificing  lite  may  wel]  be  written 
in  illuminated  letters  the  words  "  I  have  fin- 
ished the  work  which  Thou  gavest  me  to  do." 

It  was  a  real  event  in  the  history  of  woman's 
missionary  work  when  Sophia  Cooke  left  her 
English  home  and  turned  her  face  toward  the 
Orient.  Christian  womanhood  in  its  organized 
capacity  had  not  come  to  the  front  in  those  days, 
and  she  had  not  the  help  and  spiritual  uphold- 
ing of  a  loving  sisterhood  in  the  home  land. 
With  Abrahamic  faith  she  set  out  for  a  land  of 
which  she  literally  knew  nothing,  and  concern- 
ing which  very  little  was  known  by  the  Church. 

Singapore  became  her  mount  of  observation, 
her  working  center,  but  her  life  touched  many 
lands,  and  her  elevated  Christian  character 
helped  all  classes  of  people  with  whom  she  came 
in  contact.  It  is  difficult  to  form  an  adequate 
estimate  of  the  unique  place  she  filled  for  so 
many  long  years  or  to  giv^e  a  proper  record  of 
her  great  life  work. 

Miss  Cooke  was  identified  with  the  Church  of 

England  and  was  ever  loyal   to  its  forms  and 

1 06 


MISS  SOPHIA  COOKE 

spirit,  but  she  took  into  her  warm  heart  all  who 
loved  the  Lord ;  in  that  great  cosmopolitan  city 
in  which  she  lived  she  had  friends  of  all  creeds 
and  among  all  churches,  and  her  comfortable 
and  hospitable  home  on  Government  Hill  was  a 
common  meeting  place  for  Christians. 

In  the  year  1843  ^  school  for  Chinese  girls 
was  opened  in  Singapore,  as  there  was  a  large 
Chinese  population  in  the  city.  This  work  was 
carried  on  under  difficulties,  the  Chinese  being 
greatly  opposed  to  Christianity,  and  Miss  Grant, 
who  conducted  the  school,  was  often  in  actual 
dan  O'er  of  her  life. 

When  Miss  Cooke  arrived  she  found  a  home 
established  and  a  few  native  girls  fitted  to  be 
teachers,  but  her  activities  were  not  confined  to 
the  school ;  and  looking  over  the  broad  field  she 
found  the  harvest  ripe,  but  reapers  few;  so,  tak- 
ing some  of  her  native  girls  as  interpreters,  she 
commenced  a  system  of  house-to-house  visita- 
tion— reading  the  word  and  interesting  the 
women  in  the  story  of  the  Gospel.  Then  notic- 
ine  that  on  these  visits  the  men  would  often 
stand  outside  and  listen,  her  heart  was  stirred  to 
consider  what  might  be  done  for  them. 

Here  was  an  unoccupied  field,  for  two  mis- 
sionary societies  had  abandoned  the  work  among 
the  Chinese.     She  commenced  to  teach  two  men 

in  her  schoolroom,  both  of  them  walking  twelve 

107 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

miles  every  Sunday.  The  number  was  soon  in- 
creased. A  chapel  was  built  on  her  own  com- 
pound, and  a  goodly  congregation  very  soon 
gathered.  A  simple  service  was  held,  but  the 
interpreter  was  required  to  prepare  his  notes  in 
English,  that  Miss  Cooke  might  know  what  kind 
of  spiritual  food  he  administered  to  his  fellow- 
countrymen.  After  a  few  years  this  work  was 
given  over  to  the  English  Church.  This  was, 
however,  only  one  of  the  side  issues,  for  all  this 
time  her  school  was  progressing  and  becoming 
a  power.  The  children  received  into  the  school 
were  all  of  poor  parents,  and  the  chief  source  of 
income  for  their  support  was  from  the  sale  of 
clothing  and  needlework  sent  from  England. 
Many  a  little  waif,  brought  to  the  sheltering 
care  of  the  school  by  the  police,  found  a  home, 
where  she  was  tenderly  cared  for  and  devel- 
oped into  an  earnest  Christian  worker. 

A  number  of  young  girls  were  brought  to  her 
from  China,  some  of  them  having  been  captured 
there  by  Malay  sailors.  Not  a  few  of  these 
were  led  out  into  a  broad  Christian  experience, 
and  are  to-day  centers  of  Christian  homes, 
exerting  in  other  lands  an  influence  for  the  up- 
lifting of  womanhood.  Five  are  now  married 
and  living  in  Foo-Chow,  two  in  Korea,  and  oth- 
ers in  the  interior  of  China;  one  is  the  wife  of 
a  Chinese  missionary  in   Melbourne,  Australia, 

io8 


MISS  SOPHIA  COOKE 

while  another  is  settled  in  Batavia,  Java.  Such 
have  been  some  of  the  wonderful  influences 
exerted  by  a  school  where  the  constant  aim  of 
the  devoted  leader  was  to  bring  all  her  pupils  to 
a  saving  knowledge  of  Christ. 

Miss  Cooke  had  a  marvelous  influence  in  the 
army  and  the  navy.  For  years  she  conducted 
a  soldiers'  Bible  class  at  her  home  on  Saturday 
evenings,  and  she  was  the  originator  of  the 
' '  Sailors'  Rest."  All  vessels  sweeping  round  the 
Malay  Peninsula,  on  their  way  to  China,  stop  at 
this  port,  and  every  steamer  which  goes  through 
the  Suez  Canal  en  route  to  China  must  also  pass 
here;  so  that  sailors  from  all  lands  stopped  at 
vSingapore,  and  great  numbers  of  them  came 
under  her  personal  influence.  She  made  no 
pretensions  to  great  learning.  She  was  only  a 
plain  woman,  quick  to  see  and  to  seize  the  op- 
portunities. The  inspiration  of  her  life  work 
was  her  entire  devotion  and  consecration  to  the 
Master  she  loved.  In  all  the  years  of  her  toils 
she  only  twice  visited  the  home  land. 

But  her  great  activities  came  to  a  close,  and 
while  her  sufferings  for  a  few  weeks  were  great, 
yet  her  room  was  a  veritable  gate  of  heaven. 
The  girls  she  had  loved  and  taught  were  about 
her,  singing  her  favorite  hymns  and  ministering 
to  her  bodily  wants.  Just  before  her  home-go- 
ing  she    said,    **  Chinese   girls'   school  all    for 

109 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

Jesus,"  and  again  was  this  repeated.  The  last 
sounds  intelligible  to  her  were  the  voices  of  her 
pupils  singing : 

"  Heaven's  morning  breaks  and  earth's  vain  shadows  flee; 
In  life,  in  death,  O  Lord,  abide  with  me." 

She  died  September  14,  1895.  Her  funeral 
was  said  to  be  the  most  representative  ever  seen 
in  Singapore,  and  with  almost  regal  honors  this 
devoted  woman  was  laid  to  rest.  The  girls  of 
the  school,  with  mothers  and  grandmothers  from 
among  her  old  girls,  with  their  husbands  and 
sons,  and  Chinese  Christians  of  the  various  mis- 
sions, followed  the  bier,  while  nearly  every  mem- 
ber of  the  missionary  community  was  pres- 
ent. Chinese  preachers  carried  her  body  down 
stairs,  and  European  policemen  bore  it  to  the 
grave,  while  sailors  from  an  English  steamer 
were  present  to  represent  the  many  thousands  to 
whom  Miss  Cooke's  name  is  a  household  word. 
Thus  passed  away  another  whose  life  was  a  link 
connecting  us  with  the  past.  Her  influence  will 
live  and  her  name  be  lovingly  remembered. 


MISS  CHARLOTTE  MARIA  TUCKER 

MISS  CHARLOTTE  MARIA  TUCKER 
(A^  L.  O,  E.) 

A'' PRINCESS  IN  ISRAEL"  was  Charlotte 
Maria  Tucker,  who  died  in  the  city  of 
Amritsir,  Northern  India,  December  2,  1893. 
Some  souls  are  developed  by  watching  and 
waiting,  and  abiding  God's  time.  Miss  Tucker 
demonstrated  what  great  things  God  will  do  for 
a  woman  and  with  a  woman  who  is  wholly 
given  up  to  his  service. 

She  was  born  in  England,  in  the  year  1821, 
and  came  of  the  best  English  blood.  Her 
father  was  Mr.  Henry  St.  George  Tucker,  who 
for  a  period  of  more  than  fifty  years  filled  im- 
portant positions  under  the  English  government, 
and  was  at  one  time  a  director  of  the  East  India 
Company.  Her  early  life  was  spent  in  the  quiet 
and  retirement  of  her  home,  which  was  one  of 
elegance  and  refinement,  surrounded  by  all  that 
wealth  and  social  position  could  give.  From 
childhood  she  breathed  a  religious  and  mission- 
ary atmosphere. 

Her  spirit  was  vivacious,  buoyant,  sympa- 
thetic; her  features  fine,  her  face  attractive  in 
its  winning  smile,  her  intellect  brilliant.  As 
years  advanced  she  developed  a  life  of  ceaseless 
Christian    activity.     To    study   such    a   life,   to 

9  HI 


•'THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH   FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

catch  some  of  its  music,  to  understand  its  heart- 
throbs, and  to  comprehend  its  record  of  love, 
patience,  and  hope,  is  to  get  great  inspiration. 
Miss  Tucker's  life  covered  three  distinct  peri- 
ods— her  home  life,  her  literary  life,  and  her 
missionary  life — while  her  spiritual  life  en- 
veloped the  whole.  She  early  developed  lit- 
erary powers,  and  .speedily  won  distinction  as  a 
writer  for  young  people.  Her  books  are  found 
in  Sunday  school  libraries  and  on  drawing-room 
tables,  not  only  in  England,  but  over  the  whole 
English-speaking  world,  and  so  helpful  were 
her  stories,  so  charming  her  style,  that  the  novi 
de  plume  of  A.  L.  O.  E.  (A  Lady  of  England) 
became  as  familiar  in  the  households  of  this 
country  as  in  her  native  land.  It  seems  mar- 
velous that  she  could  write  so  much  and  write  it 
all  so  well.  I  have  before  me  a  list  of  one  hun- 
dred of  her  books,  with  quaint  and  suggestive 
titles,  all  issued  by  one  firm  in  London.  She 
wrote  because  she  loved  to  write  and  had  an 
intense  desire  to  do  good,  while  sweet  and  holy 
lessons  filled  every  page.  In  addition  to  her 
books  Miss  Tucker  edited  TJie  CJiristiaii  Juvenile 
Instructor  for  many  years,  and  contributed  to 
many  magazines.  She  delighted  in  metaphor 
and  parable,  and  her  writings  in  these  particular 
characteristics  are  unique,  while  her  allegories 
are  perhaps  unequaled. 

112 


MISS  CHARLOTTE  MARIA  TUCKER 

In  the  year  1857  she  met  with  a  great  sorrow 
in  the  death  of  a  beloved  brother,  Robert  Tudor 
Tucker,  who  was  murdered  in  the  dreadful  In- 
dian mutiny  that  brought  sorrow  and  desolation 
to  so  many  English  homes.  She  took  to  her 
home  and  heart  the  children  of  this  brother. 
Then  came  the  death  of  her  beloved  mother, 
the  breaking  up  of  the  dear  old  home,  so  full  of 
blessed  associations,  the  lingering  illness  of  a 
sister,  and  a  combination  of  trials  which  put  to 
test  her  Christian  confidence. 

Notwithstanding  the  pressure  thus  put  upon 
her,  she  continued  to  write  for  the  press  with 
unabated  vigor,  and  every  year  several  new 
volumes  w^ere  added  to  the  list  of  publications. 
But  she  never  was  too  much  engrossed  with 
her  own  duties  to  attend  to  any  who  needed 
help,  and  w^as  ever  ready  to  lay  down  her  pen 
and  turn  her  thoughts  from  her  manuscript  to 
amuse  or  profit  others  and  give  loving  counsel 
and  sympathy. 

Miss  Tucker  from  a  child  had  been  interested 
in  missionary  work  in  India,  and  possibly  be- 
cause of  the  official  relations  several  members 
of  the  family  held  to  the  government  she  had 
longed  for  the  opportunity  to  engage  in  it  her- 
self; but  wshe  accepted  with  true  loyalty  the 
duties  pressed  upon  her  at  home.  In  1875, 
when  she  was  fifty-four  years  old,  an  age  when 

113 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

most  persons  are  thinking  of  retiring  from 
work  altogether,  she  was  permitted  to  carry  out 
the  cherished  plans  of  a  lifetime  and  become  a 
missionary  to  the  heathen. 

She  went  out  as  an  honorary  missionary  of 
the  Church  of  England  Zenana  Missionary  So- 
ciety at  her  own  expense,  and  gave  her  fortune 
to  carry  on  the  work.  So  bravely  and  persist- 
ently did  she  fill  out  the  days  and  years  that 
she  never  had  time  to  return  home ;  during  the 
eighteen  years  no  inducements  of  relatives  or 
friends  sufficed  to  take  her  back  to  England 
even  for  a  short  visit.  She  had  a  realizing 
sense  that  her  time  was  short  and  she  must 
crowd  into  it  all  that  was  possible. 

AVhen  England  gave  Miss  Tucker  to  India  it 

gave  the  very  best  it  had.      Her  field  of  labor 

at  first  was  Amritsir,  in  the  Punjab,  where  she 

lived  for  nearly  two  years,  when  a  new  station 

was  opened  at  Batala,  twenty-four  miles  distant. 

There  she  settled  down  and  remained  during 

the  rest  of    her   life.      When   she  first  arrived 

one  who  welcomed  her  wrote:    "She  came   to 

us  early  one  bright  morning,  and  instantly  our 

hearts    went    out  to  her.      Her  soft   gray  hair 

drawn   smoothly  away   from   a  fine   brow,   her 

clear  eyes,  so  full  of  intelligence,  and  the  frank, 

sweet  smile  playing  over  her  features  made  hers 

a  very  attractive  face.     How  thoughtful  she  was 

114 


MISS  CHARLOTTE  MARIA  TUCKER 

for  the  comfort  of  others ;  how  keenly  she  ap- 
preciated what  was  beautiful  and  good  around 
her.  On  the  day  after  her  arrival  she  took  her 
place  among  the  native  Christians  in  the  mis- 
sion chapel."  Thus  commenced  her  missionary 
life  of  ceaseless  activity  and  usefulness.  Even 
before  going  to  India  she  studied  the  language 
of  the  Punjab.  It  was  no  easy  task  at  her 
age  to  learn  and  become  familiar  with  a  foreign 
tongue ;  but  this  effort  was  small  in  comparison 
with  that  of  going  into  the  homes,  among  big- 
oted and  ignorant  women,  which  took  her  not 
only  into  the  zenanas  of  Batala,  but  to  the 
women  of  the  surrounding  towns  and  villages. 
She  was  identified  with  the  high  school  for 
boys  at  Batala,  but  preeminently  her  gifts  of 
mind,  her  strength,  her  means,  and  her  love 
were  consecrated  to  the  service  of  India's  women. 
She  had  marvelous  tact  in  winning  her  way, 
and  was  fertile  in  expedients  for  getting  the 
attention  of  the  women  to  her  story.  She 
would  seat  herself  on  the  floor  with  true  ori- 
ental ease  and  grace  and  gather  the  women 
around  her,  who  were  curious  for  any  variety 
in  their  monotonous  lives.  But  the  welcome 
extended  her  was  not  always  of  the  warmest 
character.  Often  her  heart  was  saddened  by 
the  stupidity  and  indifference  of  those  whom 
she  longed  to  help,  and  she  was  in  heaviness 

115 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

often  through  manifold  disappointments.  While 
pursuing  her  Christlike  work  this  devoted 
woman  was  frequently  turned  away  from  the 
houses  by  insolent  men,  spat  upon,  pelted  with 
broken  crockery,  and  received  much  discour- 
teous treatment.  '*  It  was  a  pathetic  sight," 
says  one,  "  to  see  this  cultured  woman,  no 
longer  young,  standing  in  some  lane  or  street 
singing  some  Christian  song  in  sweetest  tones, 
that  some  word  might  be  heard  or  some  echo 
awakened  in  the  hearts  of  those  to  whom  she 
was  refused  admittance."  It  was  her  custom, 
after  returning  from  her  morning  visits  among 
the  women,  to  make  a  record  in  her  diary  (a 
large  book  of  foolscap)  of  her  success  or  her  dis- 
couragements. Upon  one  occasion  she  wrote: 
''  Thrice  this  week  I,  an  aged  servant  of  Christ, 
have  been  turned  away  from  zenanas  to  which 
I  went  in  all  gentleness  and  kindness."  Her 
courage  never  failed,  for,  meeting  a  rebuff 
at  one  house,  she  would  go  to  another,  where 
possibly  she  would  find  an  entrance.  She  spoke 
of  her  work  as  an  ice-bound  vessel  laboring  to 
cut  a  passage  through  hard,  cold  ice,  with  the 
chilly  bergs  of  Mohammedanism  and  Hinduism 
towering  on  either  side,  but  she  added:  ''The 
crew  are  by  no  means  downhearted.  We  have 
cheering  signs  of  the  warm  breath  of  heaven, 
and  the  ice  is  melting  in  some  of  the  zenanas." 

ii6 


MISS  CHARLOTTE  MARIA  TUCKER 

Notwithstanding  her  abundant  missionary  la- 
bors, she  found  time  to  write.  On  winter  morn- 
ings it  was  her  habit  to  rise  long  before  light, 
make  her  cup  of  cocoa,  and  devote  that  time  to 
her  literary  work  and  personal  correspondence. 
She  sent  home  each  year  a  new  volume  to  add 
to  her  list  of  stories.  But  the  greatest  and 
crowning  work  of  her  life  was  to  prepare  a  pop- 
ular Christian  literature  for  the  women  of  India. 
She  was  probably  the  first  Christian  writer  to 
issue  religious  story  books  in  the  languages  of 
India.  With  wonderful  ease  she  adopted  the 
native  modes  of  thought  and  language.  Her 
books,  tracts,  and  leaflets — of  which  she  wrote 
over  one  hundred  while  in  the  country — were 
translated  and  circulated,  and  have  become 
very  popular — sought  after  by  native  women 
and  by  young  girls  in  mission  schools.  These 
books  were  for  native  Christians  and  for  those 
not  Christians,  for  she  made  a  study  of  the  na- 
tive character. 

At  the  special  request  of  the  Christian  Ver- 
nacular Education  Society  for  India  she  wrote 
a  beautiful  volume  of  explanations  of  the  para- 
bles of  our  Lord,  called  Pearls  of  Wisdom,  which 
for  variety  of  subjects  and  depth  of  thought  sur- 
passes all  her  other  writings.  It  was  published 
also  in  separate  tracts,  to  enable  even  the  very 
poorest  native  to  purchase  them.     These  have 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

had  an  enormous  circulation,  as  have  had  the 
English  version  of  them  also. 

While  millions  of  pages  of  the  writings  of  this 
wonderfully-gifted  woman  have  been  issued,  the 
demand  for  them  has  only  begun.  India  is  with- 
out a  Christian  literature  for  women,  and  any- 
one who  in  an  attractive  form  breathes  forth 
the  truth  on  printed  page  and  scatters  it  abroad 
in  the  homes  of  India  is  doing  missionary  work 
indeed.  The  Christian  literature  of  this  woman 
was  the  greatest  legacy  she  could  leave  to  India's 
daughters,  and  many  will  rise  up  and  call  her 
*'  blessed." 

Of  her  work  Bishop  French  wrote :  ' '  She  is 
an  example  of  an  apostolic  woman — one  who, 
besides  translations  of  her  own  works  into  the 
vernacular,  for  a  whole  year,  in  the  absence  of 
the  missionary  in  charge,  presided  over  a  Chris- 
tian native  boarding  school  of  forty  boys,  and 
with  incessant  visits  and  hard  and  patient  in- 
structions ministered  to  the  women  of  many  In- 
dian homes." 

But  the  sunset  of  this  beautiful  life  came.  In 
October,  1893,  while  attending  the  opening  of  a 
church,  she  contracted  a  severe  cold,  from  which 
she  never  recovered.  Just  at  this  time  one  of 
her  associates  fell  ill,  and,  not  feeling  well  her- 
self, Miss  Tucker  ministered  to  her,  read  aloud 

to  her,  watched  her  with  tender  solicitude,  then 

118 


MISS  CHARLOTTE  MARIA  TUCKER 

passed  from  the  warm  sick  room  out  into  the 
night  air  to  her  own  "sunset"  chamber.  Worn 
and  exhausted,  she  too  fell  ill,  and  then  was 
conveyed  to  Amritsir,  where  she  was  lovingly 
nursed  and  cared  for  by  friends.  But  her 
work  was  done.  So  delighted  was  she  at  the 
prospect  of  ''  going  home  "  that,  when  told  she 
could  not  recover,  the  physician  said,  ''  It  raised 
her  spirits  and  lowered  her  temperature." 

"  I  long  to  go,"  and,  "  Come  quickly!"  were 
the  last  words  that  fell  from  her  lips.  Thus 
she  passed  away  as  she  wished,  among  the  peo- 
ple she  loved  so  well. 

They  carried  her  back  to  Batala  and  laid  her 
to  rest  December  5.  The  little  village  ceme- 
tery was  nearly  two  miles  from  her  home,  and 
thither  she  was  conveyed.  She  had  made  the 
request  to  be  buried  in  native  style,  without 
coffin.  Wrapped  in  a  sheet  and  laid  upon  a 
cliarpai  (native  bed),  she  was  borne  by  the  boys 
from  the  high  school,  to  whom  she  had  been 
such  a  friend.  The  day  was  beautiful,  the  road 
had  been  watered,  and  a  great  procession,  con- 
sisting of  missionaries,  teachers,  pupils,  a  large 
number  of  prominent  natives,  and  last  of  all  the 
women  also  followed  with  mournful  step.  The 
bier  was  literally  covered  with  flowers.  Hymns 
were  sung — hymns  of  her  own  composition — in 

which  the  whole  procession  joined. 

119 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

And  how  touching  the  scene !  After  the  vis- 
itors had  left  the  cemetery  the  women  from  the 
city — heathen  women,  women  she  had  visited 
and  helped,  women  who  would  miss  her  visits 
and  kind  words,  and  into  whose  life  some  joy 
had  come  through  Miss  Tucker's  ministrations 
— came  to  wail  and  weep  in  true  oriental  man- 
ner. India's  women  never  lost  a  truer  friend, 
and  in  all  its  history  we  fail  to  find  such  a 
record.  This  beautiful  woman  of  high  birth, 
this  cultivated  Christian  scholar,  this  celebrated 
English  authoress,  was  carried  to  her  last  rest- 
ing place  in  Christian  triumph. 

A  movement  is  agitated  on  the  part  of  the 
Church  of  England  Zenana  Missionary  Society 
to  perpetuate  her  memory  by  some  suitable  me- 
morial at  the  scene  of  her  labors  in  India.  Miss 
Tucker  was  greatly  interested  in  a  new  dispen- 
sary, in  Batala,  for  women,  and  it  is  proposed  to 
add  a  nursing  ward,  to  be  called  the  A.  L.  O.  E. 
Ward,  and  to  provide  an  annual  endowment 
for  the  beds,  for  which  about  ten  thousand  dol- 
lars will  be  appropriated.  The  Christian  Liter- 
ature Society  for  India  has  also  determined  to 
raise  a  special  fund  to  republish  her  eighty- 
seven  books,  and  to  translate  them  into  a  much 
larger  number  of  languages  of  India,  with  illus- 
trations. A.  L.  O.  E.  will  live  in  her  books. 
Her  Christian  literature  is  her  best  memorial. 


MISS  MARY  REED 


MISS  MARY  REED 

THE  little  town  of  Crooked  Tree,  Noble 
County,  O.,  was  the  birthplace  and  child- 
hood home  of  a  young  girl  who  at  sixteen  years 
of  asfe  was  brouo-ht  to  feel  her  need  of  the  Sav- 
iour.  By  the  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit  her  sinful 
and  lost  condition  out  of  Christ  was  revealed  to 
her,  and  she  was  enabled  to  Qrive  him  her  heart. 

With  this  new-found  joy  and  peace  which 
thrilled  her  soul  there  came  a  longing  to  bring 
others  into  the  same  experience,  and  earnestly 
and  zealously  did  this  young  Christian  throw 
herself  into  the  various  departments  of  church 
work.  Two  years  later  she  took  up  public 
teaching  in  her  own  State,  and  for  ten  years 
followed  this  profession,  meeting  with  more 
than  ordinary  success.  Nor  did  she  lose  an  op- 
portunity to  point  to  Christ  the  young  who  came 
under  her  care. 

1  There  often  came  to  her  heart  a  desire  to  de- 
vote her  entire  time  and  strength  to  foreign 
mission  work.  There  has  never  been  a  worker 
in  the  Master's  vineyard  who  has  felt  herself 
more  weak,  unworthy,  or  inefficient  than  this 
dear  young  woman,  and  not  until  the  conviction 
was  brought  home  to  her  heart  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  with  clear,  unmistakable,  irresistible  force 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

could  she  believe  the  Master  really  meant  her  to 
become  a  missionary.  But  the  call  finally  came 
with  no  uncertain  sound.  There  was  no  longer 
a  doubt  of  the  Master's  will ;  and  while  she 
could  not  understand  how  it  was  that  he  could 
use  her,  the  least  of  his  children,  yet  she  obeyed 
his  voice,  obtaining  the  consent  of  her  parents.  7 
With  broken,  bleeding  hearts  they  put  th-gir" 
will  concerning  her,  with  hers,  upon  the  altar, 
and  bade  her  Godspeed.  Resigning  her  posi- 
tion as  a  teacher,  she  offered  herself  to  the 
Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  was  accepted,  and 
appointed  to  India  by  the  Cincinnati  Branch. 

She  was  one  of  eight  children,  all  living,  the 
eldest  of  four  daughters,  with  three  brothers 
older  and  one  younger.  The  tender  good-bye 
was  said  to  each  of  these  and  to  the  dear  fa- 
ther and  mother,  and  she  started  out  on  her 
long  journey  with  glad  anticipations,  reaching 
the  country  in  November,  1884.  At  the  annual 
session  of  the  North  India  Conference,  in  Janu- 
ary following,  she  was  appointed  by  the  bishop 
to  the  zenana  work  in  Cawnpore.  Just  at  this 
time  she  was  taken  very  ill,  and  as  soon  as  able 
to  travel  was  hurried  off  to  Pithoragarh,  in  the 
Himalaya  Mountains,  where  she  was  obliged  to 
remain  for  weeks  before  taking  up  her  work. 

But  they  were  not  idle  days.     She  engaged  ear- 

122 


MISS  MARY  REED 

nestly  in  the  study  of  the  language,  studied  the 
great  opportunity  for  extending  the  Master's 
kingdom  in  this  mountain  region,  and  looked 
into  our  mission  work  there  under  the  able  su- 
pervision of  Miss  Budden.  Three  miles  from 
Miss  Budden's  school  and  '*  Home  for  Homeless 
Women  "  she  saw  the  asylum  into  which  were 
gathered  numbers  of  those  who  in  olden  times 
were  to  ''  dwell  alone,"  for  "  without  the  camp 
shall  his  habitation  be,"  and  he  shall  cry,  ''Un- 
clean, unclean,"  and  learned  that  in  this  district, 
which  is  less  than  twenty  miles  square,  there 
were  five  hundred  of  these  poor  afflicted  ones  in 
all  stages  of  the  dreadful  malady — leprosy. 

She  hailed  with  joy  the  day  when  she  was 
permitted  to  return  to  the  plains  and  take  up 
the  duties  to  which  she  had  been  appointed. 
These  she  performed  with  great  success,  throw- 
ing her  whole  heart,  soul,  and  strength  into  the 
work,  and  toiling  many  a  long  day  when 
scarcely  able  to  leave  her  room.  These  were 
good  days  and  years  for  her  soul.  In  them  she 
learned  very  precious  lessons,  and  was  being 
wonderfully  prepared  spiritually  for  the  greater 
work  the  Father  was  planning  for  her  in  the 
future,  when  she  would  be  led  to  retrace  her 
steps  up  into  that  magnificent  mountain  region 
and  take  up  her  abode  at  that  asylum,  her  own 

body  bearing  upon  it  the  marks  of  the  leper ! 

123 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

After  four  years  of  successful  labor  in  Cawn- 
pore  she  was  sent  to  the  girls'  boarding  school 
in  Gonda,  remaining  one  year.  In  January  of 
1890  she  returned  to  the  home  land  completely 
broken  down  in  health. 

She  thought  in  a  few  months  to  be  able  to  go 
back  to  her  work ;  yet  time  passed  on  with  but 
little  improvement  in  her  health.  She  spent 
some  time  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Hospital 
connected  with  the  Deaconess  Home  in  Cincin- 
nati, passing  through  a  serious  surgical  opera- 
tion in  order  to  be  able  to  return  to  her  beloved 
India.  F'or  months  there  had  been  constant 
pain  and  a  peculiar  tingling  sensation  in  the 
forefinger  of  her  right  hand,  and  while  conva- 
lescing in  this  hospital  a  peculiar  spot  appeared 
on  her  cheek,  low  down,  near  the  ear. 

"One  day  the  heavenly  Father  Jiiniself  re- 
vealed to  her,  as  in  a  flash,  the  nature  of  her 
disease,  and  also  his  purpose  concerning  her." 
To  her  stricken  heart  came  the  remembrance  of 
that  spot  in  the  Himalaya  Mountains  where, 
amid  surpassing  loveliness  of  surroundings, 
that  company  of  suffering  men  and  women  pass 
their  sorrowful  days,  and  she  heard  the  Father's 
voice  whispering  that  he  designed  her  to  glorify 
him  in  the  fires  by  being  their  minister  and 
comforter  in  his  name.  She  called  for  a  medi- 
cal book,  and,  without  telling  her  nurse  why  she 

124 


MISS  MARY  REED 

wished  it,  read  up  her  case,  and  then  told  her 
physician  her  fears.  The  physician  asked  for  a 
consultation,  and  was  convinced  she  was  right ; 
but,  as  they  had  book  knowledge  only,  as  soon 
as  she  was  able  to  take  the  journey  he  sent  her 
to  New  York  to  consult  a  physician  who  had 
spent  some  time  in  the  Sandwich  Islands,  mak- 
ing a  specialty  of  leprosy,  and  he  confirmed  the 
verdict.     This  was  in  April,  1891. 

She  confided  in  one  sister,  who,  with  her 
physician,  nurse,  and  one  special  friend,  to- 
gether held  her  secret.  She  said,  "  My  mother 
must  not  know  why  I  go  back  to  India."  She 
said  to  her  friends,  ' '  If  you  will  let  me  go  with- 
out a  special  good-bye,  as  though  I  was  to  re- 
turn to-morrow,  it  will  be  so  much  easier  for 
me;"  and  thus,  without  a  good-bye  kiss  from 
any,  she  went  out  from  her  home  and  hastened 
on  to  the  place  of  her  exile.  Her  mother 
wrote,  "  I  knew  nothing  of  the  sad  affliction 
until  she  reached  India.  I  am  glad  I  did  not 
know."  Poor  mother!  One  says,  '*  The  Lord 
knew  he  could  trust  the  parents  with  this  trial 
as  well  as  Mary." 

In  London  she  consulted  two  eminent  physi- 
cians, to  whom  she  had  letters  of  introduction. 
One  was  Sir  Joseph  Fayrer,  the  most  eminent 
authority  in  the  world  on  Indian  disea.ses.    The 

great  physician  admired  the  heroism  she  exhib- 

125 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

ited,  but  was  compelled  to  add  to  the  testimony 
of  her  American  physician  regarding  the  nature 
of  her  malady. 

On  her  return  trip  Miss  Reed  crossed  the  At- 
lantic in  the  steamer  which  carried  the  Epworth 
League  pilgrims  to  England.  While  in  London 
she  met  a  young  lady  school-teacher  from  New 
England,  whose  companionship  she  greatly  en- 
joyed, and  with  whom  she  traveled  in  Europe. 
This  friend  says : 

**  Late  in  the  afternoon  we  arrived  in  London 
and  drove  directly  to  a  desirable  house  under 
the  shadow  of  the  British  Museum.  With 
much  interest  I  looked  into  the  faces  of  the 
strangers  and  listened  to  the  table-talk  that 
is  always  so  lively  when  traveling  Americans 
dine.  One  face  alone  had  any  power  over  me — 
that  of  a  woman  who  sat  on  the  opposite  side  of 
the  table,  and  who  smiled  in  a  friendly  way 
through  the  ferns  and  blossoming  plants.  Her 
abundant  brown  hair  was  brushed  smoothly 
back  from  her  placid  brow,  and  her  gentle  eyes 
revealed  the  true  soul  of  the  owner.  I  won- 
dered instinctively  at  the  ivory  pallor  of  that 
sweet  face  and  at  the  cruel  spot  that  disfigured 
it,  so  different  from  anything  I  had  ever  seen. 
I  wondered,  too,  as  the  days  went  by,  why  the 
forefinger,    always    covered   with   a  white   cot, 

refused  to  yield  to  healing  remedies. 

126 


MISS  MARY  REED 

"  T  was  not  surprised  when  she  asked  permis- 
sion to  accompany  us  on  our  journey  southward, 
which,  for  the  Master's  sake,  was  readily 
granted,  although  we  did  not  think  she  was 
able  to  travel  rapidly  from  place  to  place. 
Tears  were  in  her  eyes  when  she  came  to  my 
room  for  her  answer,  and  she  said,  '  I  think 
God  has  sent  you  here  in  answer  to  my  prayers.' 
Then  she  told  me  how,  with  unwavering  faith, 
she  prayed  and  waited  many  days  for  some  one 
to  come  with  whom  she  could  travel  a  part  of 
her  long  overland  journey  to  Brindisi,  where 
she  was  to  meet  the  steamer  for  India.  Sym- 
pathy grew  between  us,  and  though  the  signs 
of  some  dread  disease  were  ever  present  to  my 
eyes,  my  lips  were  silent. 

**Here  and  there  we  held  sweet  hours  of 
communion,  and  I,  who  had  been  accustomed 
to  see  missionaries  seeking  America  in  her 
feeble  condition,  could  not  refrain  from  asking 
if  it  was  right  for  her  to  return  to  India  at  an 
unfavorable  season,  before  her  health  was  es- 
tablished. Her  lips  quivered,  but  her  gentle, 
pleading  voice  grew  steady  as  she  replied,  '  My 
Father  knows  the  way  I  go,  and  I  am  sure  it  is 
the  right  way ;'  and  at  another  time  she  said, 
*  I  am  returning  to  India  under  conditions  in 
which  no  other  missionary  ever  returned.' 

''  It  was  in  Paris  that  she   sang  to  me  the 

10  127 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

hymns  she  loved  so  well,  those  song-prayers  that 
must  have  ascended  like  incense  to  the  ear  of 
her  Father.  It  was  in  Paris  that  she  said  one 
evening,  '  If  I  thought  it  was  right,  and  you 
would  promise  never  to  speak  of  it  until  you 
heard  it  in  some  other  way,  I  should  tell  you 
my  story.'  I  told  her  if  aught  in  me  in- 
spired her  confidence,  that  was  the  surest  safe- 
guard of  her  secret. 

''  On  memory's  walls  there  will  hang,  while 
time  lasts  for  me,  the  picture  of  that  scene.  A 
wax  taper  burned  dimly  on  the  table  beside  her 
open  Bible,  that  book  of  all  books  from  whose 
pages  she  received  daily  consolation,  and  while 
without,  Paris  was  turning  night  to  day  with  light 
and  music  and  wine,  within,  Mary  Reed's  gentle 
voice,  faltering  only  at  her  mother's  name  and 
coming  sorrow,  told  the  secret  of  her  affliction. 

"  1  come  with  sorrow  to  my  last  evening  with 
Miss  Reed.  I  sat  in  the  shadow,  and  she  where 
the  full  moon,  rising  over  the  snowy  moun- 
tains, just  touched,  with  a  glory  that  loved  to 
linger,  her  pale,  sweet  face.  Again  I  hear  her 
voice  in  song : 

"'  Straight  to  my  home  above 

I  travel  calmly  on, 
And  sing,  in  life  or  death, 

My  Lord,  thy  will  be  done.' 

**  On  the  shores  of  lovely  Lake  Lucerne  hand 

clasped  hand  for  the  last  time  on  earth,   and, 

128 


MISS  MARY  REED 

with  eyes  blinded  by  gathering  tears,  our  fare- 
well was  whispered,  '  God  be  with  you  till  we 
meet  again/  " 

In  Bombay  she  was  examined  by  experts,  all 
of  whom  confirmed  the  decision  of  the  physi- 
cians in  America,  and  she  realized  as  she  had 
not  before  that  her  dear  ones,  whom  she  hoped 
to  shield  and  spare  the  pain  which  this  news 
must  bring,  must  surely  learn  it  sooner  or  later, 
and  that  it  would  much  better  be  told  them  by 
herself.  So  she  wrote  before  leaving  Bombay : 
"  After  prayerful  consideration  I  find  it  wisest 
and  kindest  to  tell  you,  or  allow  dear,  brave- 
hearted  sister  Rena,  with  whom  I  intrusted  this 
mystery  of  God's  providence,  to  tell  you  what 
she  pledged  to  keep  from  you.  She  will  tell  you 
how  our  lovinof  heavenly  Father,  who  is  '  too 
wise  to  err,'  has  in  his  infinite  love  and  wisdom 
chosen,  called,  and  prepared  your  daughter  to 
teach  lessons  of  patience,  endurance,  and  sub- 
mission, while  I  shall  have  the  joy  of  minister- 
ing to  a  class  of  people  who  but  for  the  prepa- 
ration which  has  been  mine  for  this  special 
work  would  have  no  helper  at  all ;  and  while  I 
am  called  apart  among  these  needy  creatures, 
who  hunger  and  thirst  for  salvation  and  for 
comfort  and  cheer,  He  who  has  called  and  pre- 
pared me  promises  that  he  himself  will  be  to 
me  as  a  little  sanctuary  where  I  am  to  abide, 

I2g 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

and  abiding  in  him  I  shall  have  a  supply  of  all 
my  need." 

Although  assured  by  the  physician  that  at 
this  stage  of  the  disease  there  was  no  possible 
danger  of  contagion,  yet  she  did  not  know  what 
day  there  might  be;  and  so  hastened  on  as  rap- 
idly as  her  strength  would  permit  to  Pithora- 
garh,  never  to  retrace  her  steps  unless  she 
should  go  a  healed  woman — healed  of  God 
direct,  for  leprosy  has  baffled  the  skill  of  the 
most  eminent  specialist.  A  Scottish  society, 
called  ''  Mission  to  Lepers  in  India  and  the 
East,"  carries  on  work  among  lepers  in  thirty- 
four  centers,  in  India,  Burma,  Ceylon,  and 
China,  establishing  and  maintaining  leper  asy- 
lums. One  of  these  asylums  is  at  Chandag, 
Pithoragarh,  Kumaon  District,  where  there  are 
said  to  be  more  lepers  than  in  any  other  section 
of  India.  Arrangements  were  made  to  give 
Miss  Reed  supervision  there,  while  she  should 
receive  her  support  from  the  Woman's  Foreign 
Missionary  Society  of  her  Church.  In  the  re- 
port of  the  Scottish  society  the  following  para- 
graph appeared : 

"  Most  deeply  pathetic  is  the  story  of  how 

our  staff  of  workers  among  the  lepers  has  been 

so  strangely  reinforced  by  the  addition  of  a  lady 

missionary  of   one   of   the    American    societies 

who  has  contracted  the  disease  in  the  course  of 

130 


MISS  MARY  REED 

her  work  in  India.  The  committee  has  ap- 
pointed her  as  an  agent  in  one  of  our  asykims,  as 
it  is  her  earnest  wish  to  spend  her  remaining 
strength  in  this  special  work  to  which  she  has 
been  so  mysteriously  consecrated.  .  .  .  No  clew 
as  to  how  she  became  thus  afflicted  has  sug- 
gested itself,  for  she  was  not  even  working 
among  lepers." 

There,  while  receiving  treatment  herself,  she 
ministers  both  to  the  temporal  and  spiritual 
wants  of  her  fellow-sufferers.  Her  work  is  not 
confined  exclusively  to  the  inmates  of  the  asy- 
lum. Among  the  mountain  fastnesses  there 
are  many  cases  of  the  dread  disease,  and  noth- 
ing gives  the  sufferer  more  pleasure  than  to  re- 
ceive a  visit  from  Miss  Reed,  whom  they  all 
regard  as  the  leper's  friend.  The  beautiful  life 
she  lives  among  them  emphasizes  the  sweet 
Gospel  she  teaches. 

Note. — Since  writing  the  above,  word  has  been  received  that  the 
disease  from  which  Miss  Reed  has  been  suffering  seems  to  have 
been  entirely  arrested. 

131 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

MISS  FANNY  JANE  BUTLER,  M.D. 

First  Medical  Woman  to  Kashmir 

DR.  FANNY  BUTLER  had  the  distinction 
of  being  the  first  fully-equipped  medical 
missionary  woman  sent  to  India  from  England. 
She  entered  upon  her  work  in  1880,  and  her 
first  destination  was  Jabalpur,  in  the  Central 
Provinces ;  but  owing  to  a  series  of  complica- 
tions she  remained  only  a  short  time,  then  re- 
moved to  Bhagalpur.  Here  she  spent  four 
and  a  half  years,  throwing  her  whole  heart  into 
the  work.  She  had  charge  of  two  dispen- 
saries, and  attended  to  several  thousand  patients 
annually.  In  1887  she  returned  home  for  a 
short  furlough,  when  she  accepted  the  appoint- 
ment to  Kashmir,  opening  the  way  to  specific 
work  among  the  women  of  that  beautiful  val- 
ley. 

"  Beautiful  valley  !  garden  of  God  ! 
Thy  wealth  is  the  grain  beneath  the  sod ; 
A  corn  of  wheat,  'tis  fallen  and  dead  ; 
The  sheaves  will  come,  as  the  Master  said." 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  leadings  in  this 
direction.  Dr.  William  Elmslie  entered  the 
valley  as  the  first  medical  missionary.  It  was 
his  appeal  for  women  missionaries  that  deter- 
mined Miss  Butler's  missionary  longings  in  the 

direction    of    a    thorough    medical    equipment. 

132 


MISS    FANNY    JANE    BUTLER. 


MISS  FANNY  JANE  BUTLER,  M.D. 

They  were  both  in  an  eminent  degree  fitted  to 
be  pioneers,  gifted  v/ith  the  cool  judgment,  the 
clear  decision,  the  pertinacious  insistence,  the 
indomitable  energy  of  true  leaders.  Better 
still,  they  were  both  of  them  little  children  in 
the  simplicity  of  their  faith  and  in  the  reality 
of  their  spiritual  life. 

We  turn  now  from  the  field  of  labor  that  we 
may  sketch  something  of  her  early  life  and  her 
preparation  for  work.  Miss  Butler  was  born 
October  5,  1850,  in  Chelsea,  England.  She 
was  one  of  a  large  home  circle  in  which  mutual 
affection  was  peculiarly  developed.  With  the 
exception  of  a  year,  when  she  was  six,  and  a 
few  months  a  little  later,  Fanny  Butler  had  to 
be  content  with  the  instructions  of  her  elder 
sisters  till  she  was  fourteen  and  a  half  years 
old.  Then  she  had  one  good  year  at  the  West 
London  College,  and  at  its  close  was  first  in 
every  one  of  the  eight  subjects  for  which  marks 
were  given.  The  stoppage  of  her  school  life  at 
this  period  was  the  heaviest  trouble  she  had 
known.  An  intense  thirst  for  knowledge  was 
always  upon  her.  Religious  subjects  always 
interested  her,  though  little  was  known  of  her 
personal  feelings  till  she  was  just  thirteen.  A 
sermon  at  this  time,  "  Son,  go  work  in  my 
vineyard,"  came  home  with  power.  Her  re- 
serve broke   down,    and  those    who   loved  her 

135 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

best  and  watched  her  most  closely  had  no  doubt 
that  at  this  period  she  had  intelligently  received 
Christ  and  given  herself  to  his  service. 

At  fourteen  she  became  a  Sunday  school 
teacher,  and  the  following  year  she  was  con- 
firmed. The  time  seems  to  have  been  one  of 
much  blessing,  and  all  doubts  as  to  her  relations 
with  God  were  removed. 

Her  attention  was  early  directed  to  missions 
through  the  influence  of  her  pastor,  whose  en- 
thusiasm was  infectious.  In  1872  Miss  Butler 
went  to  live  with  a  married  sister.  At  her  home 
she  met  with  missionaries  from  China,  who  rec- 
ognized in  her  the  true  missionary  spirit,  and 
urged  on  her  the  claims  of  that  country.  Then 
it  was  that  for  the  first  time  she  broke  the 
silence  and  wrote  to  her  parents,  about  becoming 
a  missionary.  Their  answer  was  a  disapproval 
of  the  proposed  particular  step,  accompanied  by 
an  expression  of  their  willingness  that  at  some 
future  time  her  missionary  desire  should  be  ful- 
filled. Shortly  afterward  Dr.  Elmslie's  appeal 
for  women's  medical  missions  came  into  the 
hands  of  her  sister,  who  passed  it  to  Miss  Butler 
with  the  remark,  "  This  is  the  work  for  you." 
She  looked  it  over  and  said :  "  I  could  not  do  it. 
I  do  not  care  for  the  medical  women's  move- 
ment."    Soon,  however,  she   came  back  to  the 

bedside    and    said,    in   a  very    different   tone, 

136 


MISS  FANNY  JANE  BUTLER,  M.D. 

"This  may  be  the  work  that  is  meant  for  me. 
I  will  send  the  paper  to  A.,  and  see  what  she 
says."  Characteristically  enough,  she  did  this 
without  a  word  from  herself.  Promptly  the 
answer  came,  "This  seems  the  very  work  for 
you ;  the  training  for  it  would  develop  the 
abilities  God  has  given  you  and  would  enable 
you  to  become  the  very  best  kind  of  mission- 
ary." A  second  application  to  her  parents,  this 
time  for  permission  to  take  up  medical  mission- 
ary work,  was  met  with  an  unqualified  "  Yes." 

She  was  accepted  by  the  Indian  Female  Nor- 
mal Society,  and  at  once  went  to  work  and 
passed  second,  in  an  examination,  out  of  one 
hundred  and  twenty-three  candidates,  one  hun- 
dred and  nineteen  of  whom  were  men,  and  was 
entered  at  the  opening  of  the  Women's  School 
of  Medicine  in  October,  1874,  as  the  first  en- 
rolled student  of  the  school. 

She  was  a  student  of  the  first  order,  and  she 
received  from  her  examiners  very  flattering  tes- 
timonials of  the  high  character  of  her  work. 
She  went  to  Dublin  for  her  final  examination, 
and  was  told  by  one  of  the  professors  that  her 
paper  was  the  best  he  had  ever  had  from  any 
candidate. 

Thus  equipped  she  started  for  India,  as  we 
have  noted,  and  remained  seven  years.  Then 
accepting   the   appointment   to    Kashmir,    and 

137 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

returning  in  August,  1888,  from  her  furlough, 
she  rented  a  little  house  in  the  center  of  Srina- 
gar,  the  chief  city  of  the  valley,  and  opened  a 
dispensary.  The  work  pressed  upon  her  from 
every  direction.  The  first  year  five  thousand 
attended  and  at  least  two  thousand  heard  the 
Gospel.  Then  another  house  was  taken  for  a 
hospital.  The  missionaries  might  visit  the  city, 
but  residence  was  forbidden,  and  she  was  four 
miles  from  her  work.  Finally,  through  Miss 
Butler's  efforts,  the  resistance  of  the  native 
government  was  overcome  and  as  much  ground 
in  an  excellent  position  was  obtained  as  was 
necessary  for  dispensary,  hospital,  and  mission 
house.  About  the  samo  time,  also,  a  lady 
warmly  interested  in  all  medical  mission  work, 
Mrs.  Isabella  Bird  Bishop,  was  visiting  Kash- 
mir, and  gave  a  sum  of  money  to  be  used  for 
the  purpose  of  building  a  woman's  hospital. 
Miss  Butler  was  missionary  and  physician.  She 
dressed  wounds,  dispensed  medicine,  performed 
surgical  operations,  read,  pra3^ed,  talked  to  the 
suffering,  pointed  all  to  the  great  Healer  of 
souls.  She  finally  took  her  patients  one  by  one 
into  an  upper  room.  One  of  the  helpers  writes : 
*'  I  make  my  way  with  difficulty  up  stairs  to  re- 
ceive my  instructions  from  the  brave  presiding 
genius   of   the    place,   the  doctor.  Miss   Sahib. 

Here  she  is,  sitting  at  her  table,  with   a  little 

138 


MISS  FANNY  JANE  BUTLER,  M.D. 

collection  of  poor  sufferers  at  her  feet.  They 
will  look  up  in  her  face,  with  clasped  hands, 
and  say,  '  We  heard  your  fame,  and  have  come 
far,  far;  '  and  again  the  words  come  back,  *  I 
have  compassion  on  the  multitudes,  .  .  .  for  di- 
vers of  them  came  from  far.'  " 

The  strain,  however,  was  too  great,  and  Miss 
Butler's  health  began  to  give  way.  In  the 
summer  she  was  ill,  and  unable  to  do  her  work, 
and  as  soon  as  she  recovered  she  took  an  itiner- 
ating trip,  but  not  for  rest.  She  writes,  **  When 
we  encamped  crowds  of  wretched  women  and 
children  collected,  begging  for  medicine,  and  I 
do  not  think  anyone  could  imagine  the  dirt  and 
disease  which  we  found  everywhere."  When 
the  fall  came  she  was  suffering,  and  was  pre- 
vented from  being  present  when  the  foundation 
stone  of  the  new  hospital  building  was  laid. 
She  continued  to  grow  worse,  and  it  became 
evident  she  must  relinquish  the  work  so  dear  to 
her.  Mrs.  Bishop,  who  visited  her  in  her  iso- 
lated home,  wrote:  ''Just  before  the  death  of 
Dr.  Fanny  Butler  it  was  a  terrible  sight  to  see 
the  way  in  which  the  women  pressed  upon  her  at 
the  dispensary  door,  which  was  kept  by  two  men 
outside  and  another  inside.  The  crush  was  so 
great  as  sometimes  to  overpower  the  men  and 
precipitate  the  women  bodily  into  the  consulting 
room.     The  evil  odors,  the  heat,  the  unsanitary 

139 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

conditions  in  which  Miss  Butler  did  her  noble 
work  of  healing  and  telling  of  the  Healer  of 
souls  were,  I  believe,  the  cause  of  the  sacrifice 
of  her  life." 

Her  mind  remained  clear,  and  her  cheerful 
interest  in  everything  never  ceased.  Her  last 
thought  was  for  the  work  she  loved,  and  her 
dying  wish  was  that  her  post  might  be  speedily 
filled.  It  was  October  26,  1889,  when  the  end 
came.  One  associated  with  her  wrote:  ''We 
laid  her  dear  remains  to  rest  in  the  little  ceme- 
tery on  Monday  morning,  in  a  quiet  corner 
under  the  shade  of  a  large  chenar  tree.  The 
same  little  boat  and  boatmen  which  had  so 
often  carried  her  to  work  in  her  hospital  bore 
her  quietly  down  the  river  to  her  resting  place. 
Our  native  servants  begged  the  honor  of  bear- 
ing her  from  the  boat  to  the  grave.  '  They  had 
eaten  her  salt,  and  no  other  arms  must  bear 
her.'  Every  resident  and  visitor  was  present 
to  show  true  and  heartfelt  respect." 

"  She  rests  from  her  labors;  and  her  works 

do  follow  her." 

140 


MRS.  EMMA  V.  DAY 


MRS.  EMMA  V.  DAY 

Twenty-one  Years  a  Missionary  to  Africa 

WHILE  Mrs.  Day's  name  may  not  be 
widely  known,  it  is  worthy  to  be  enrolled 
among  the  best  and  truest  of  the  women  who 
have  sacrificed  their  lives  for  the  sake  of  Africa. 
She  was  one  of  the  noblest  and  best  of  the 
good  and  useful  women  the  Church  has  sent  into 
the  foreign  field,  thoroughly  consecrated  to  that' 
work,  so  that  she  had  no  thought  of  anything 
else  than  giving  her  whole  life  to  it. 

Mrs.  Day  was  born  June  lo,  1853,  in  Phila- 
delphia, and  died  August  10,  1894,  near  Lewis- 
bure.  Pa.  Her  mother  died  when  she  was  an 
infant,  and  she  was  adopted  by  an  aunt.  When 
quite  young  she  became  a  consistent  Christian 
and  an  earnest,  active  member  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church.  Those  who  knew  her  in  her 
girlhood  say  that  her  disposition  was  of  that 
bright,  sunny  type  which  carried  with  it  a  halo 
of  holy  light  and  a  fervor  of  sacred  joy,  and 
there  was  a  magnetism  about  her  which  none 
could  resist.  Her  thorough  consecration,  her 
entire  devotion,  left  their  impress  upon  all  who 
came  in  contact  with  her,  and  while  quite  young 
she  felt  that  God  had  called  her  to  the  mission 
field. 

141 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

In  the  spring  of  1874  she  was  married  to  the 
Rev.  D.  A.  Day,  of  the  Lutheran  Mission  to 
Africa,  and  then  transferred  her  membership  to 
the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church.  Immediately 
after  their  marriage  they  sailed  from  New  York 
for  the  Dark  Continent  on  the  bark  Liberia, 
and  her  life  thenceforth  was  associated  with  the 
development  of  the  Muhlenberg  Mission  con- 
nected with  the  Lutheran  Church.  Mrs.  Day 
had  not  a  specially  rugged  constitution,  but  she 
shared  in  all  the  arduous  work  of  her  husband 
and  the  dangers  of  the  climate,  having  a 
woman's  and  mother's  part  in  caring  for  the 
children  at  the  mission,  and  so  training  the  girls 
that,  after  a  few  years,  the  naked  children  of 
the  bush  were  transformed  into  young  women 
wearing  neat  dresses  of  their  own  making  and 
able  to  do  the  duties  of  the  civilized  and  refined 
Christian  home.  So  fully  did  she  at  once  identify 
herself  with  the  African  people,  and  so  wholly 
did  she  give  herself  to  their  elevation  and  salva- 
tion, that  she  habitually  spoke  of  them  as  her 
people,  expecting  to  give  her  life  to  their  wel- 
fare. This  devotion  distinguished  her  entire 
life  in  Africa,  and  enabled  her  to  wield  an  in- 
fluence which  has  been  felt  alike  in  heathen  and 
Christian  lands. 

Mrs.   Day   was  cheerful   and    bright   in    the 

midst  of  depressing  influences  surrounding  her 

142 


MRS.  EMMA  V.  DAY 

in  her  missionary  work,  for  she  felt  that  a 
cheerful  and  hopeful  spirit  was  even  more  im- 
portant than  a  robust  body  in  the  contest  to  be 
waged  against  the  ignorance  and  superstition  of 
the  people  as  well  as  with  the  climate  of  that 
country.  For  twenty-one  years  she  worked  by 
the  side  of  her  husband,  pouring  the  energies 
of  her  life  into  the  work  which  had  been  com- 
mitted to  her  hands,  transforming,  as  it  were,  a 
very  wilderness  of  mission  life  into  a  garden 
of  beauty,  and  the  sacrifices,  the  sorrows,  and 
trials  of  this  noble  woman  will  never  be  fully 
known  because  borne  so  uncomplainingly. 

Three  children  were  born  to  Mrs.  Day.  Two 
of  tbem  were  born  at  the  mission,  died,  and  were 
buried  there.  The  third  was  born  in  America 
while  Mrs.  Day  was  on  a  vacation,  but  at  eight 
years  of  age  accompanied  her  on  a  return  trip 
to  Africa,  and  within  a  year  succumbed  to  the 
rigors  of  the  African  climate,  died,  and  was 
buried  beside  the  other  two  children.  During 
her  missionary  career  she  crossed  the  ocean  five 
times. 

In  1894  Mrs.  Day  returned  to  America  alone 
to  recuperate  her  health.  Dr.  Day  remained  at 
his  post.  He  accompanied  his  wife  to  the  shore, 
and  as  the  steamer  departed  each  had  the  con- 
viction at  heart  that  they  would  never  meet  again 

on  earth.     Still,  the  brave  and  hopeful  woman 
11  143 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

would  not  give  up  without  a  struggle,  and  noth- 
ing was  left  undone  by  her  or  her  devoted  friends 
here  that  might  effect  a  restoration  to  health. 
Her  self-sacrifice  and  devotion  were  manifest  in 
her  last  sickness.  Her  thought  was  still  of  her 
dear  people  in  Africa,  so  much  needing  the  light 
and  help  of  Christianity.  Her  last  letter  to  her 
husband,  shortly  before  her  death,  expressed  a 
fear  that  he  might  desire  to  come  home  on  her 
account.  In  the  completeness  of  her  devotion 
and  clear  view  of  the  needs  of  the  mission  she 
wrote  to  him,  saying,  "  Do  not  come  home;  stay 
where  you  are ;  Africa  needs  you  more  than  I 
do."  These  were  brave  and  heroic  words,  and 
show  a  royal  spirit,  a  spirit  that  had  sounded 
the  depths  of  self-sacrifice  and  heroic  devotion 
to  the  Master's  cause.  But  consecration  was  the 
keynote  of  her  life  of  Christian  love  and  loyalty, 
and  she  did  not  lack  this  element  when  she  came 
face  to  face  with  death.  The  cause  of  her  death 
was  consumption,  brought  on  by  African  fever. 
On  the  14th  of  August,  in  the  presence  of  a 
large  assembly  of  Lutherans,  her  body  was  lov- 
ingly borne  to  the  cemetery  at  Mifflinburg,  Pa., 
but  later  was  exhtmied,  and  on  the  25th  of 
November,  1896,  a  beautiful  fall  day,  she  was 
taken  to  Selin's  Grove,  Pa.,  and  her  remains 
were  tenderly  consigned  to  their  final  resting 

place. 

144 


MRS.  EMMA  V.  DAY 

Of  Mrs.  Day  it  may  be  said  that  in  girlhood 
she  was  consecrated  and  in  womanhood  dedi- 
cated her  all  to  the  service  of  her  Lord,  for  from 
a  sense  of  duty  she  offered  her  own  and  the  lives 
of  her  children  upon  the  altar  of  self-sacrifice  in 
order  that  she  might  by  carrying  the  Gospel  into 
heathendom  save  souls  for  the  Master. 

145 


THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 


MADAME  COILLARD 

ON  January  lo,  1887,  unusual  excitement 
reigned  in  the  rich  and  beautiful  valley  of 
the  Sefoula,  near  the  Zambezi  River.  Men 
wrapped  in  long  strips  of  calico  tied  round  the 
waist  by  belts  of  serpent-skins,  and  with  white 
and  downy  rabbit-tails  in  their  hair ;  women  in 
still  larger  numbers,  with  their  short  petticoats 
of  antelope  hides,  and  copper  or  ivory  bracelets 
dangling  on  their  wrists  and  knees,  all  were 
hastening  to  see  that  extraordinary  phenomenon 
— a  white  lady.  The  air  resounded  with  the 
clapping  of  hands  and  shouts  of  *'  Hail,  hail, 
lord;  good  day,  O,  our  mother." 

The  *'  lord  "  thus  loudly  cheered  was  no  other 
than  Monsieur  Coillard,  the  dauntless  French 
missionary,  and  the  *' mother"  was  his  wife, 
Christina  Coillard,  a  sweet  middle-aged  lady. 

Christina  Mackintosh,  or  Madame  Coillard, 
was  born  at  Greenock,  Scotland,  November  29, 
1829.  She  lived  one  of  those  harmonious  lives 
whose  mature  age  is  the  realization  of  their 
youthful  dreams.  She  already  loved  missions 
when  a  little  girl  in  her  quiet  Scotch  parson- 
age. She  had  subscribed  out  of  her  own 
pocket  money  to  a  missionary  paper  for  chil- 
dren, and    her  heart  had  beaten  with  indigna- 

146 


MADAME  COILLARD 

tion  at  the  sight  of  little  Sarah  Roby,  a  poor 
child  who  had  been  buried  alive  by  her  heathen 
parents,  but  fortunately  rescued  by  a  missionary, 
and  who  was  taken  all  over  England  and  Scot- 
land as  a  living  proof  of  the  horrors  of  pagan- 
ism. But  when  Christina's  interest  in  evangeli- 
zation developed  into  a  decided  missionary 
vocation  it  caused  great  surprise  among  her 
friends ;  for  missions  were  far  from  being  pop- 
ular forty  years  ago. 

In  1855  Miss  Mackintosh  gave  French  lessons 
in  Paris  with  her  sister,  becoming  acquainted 
with  a  rich  and  pious  lady,  Madame  Andre  Wal- 
ther,  whose  drawing  room  was  the  rendezvous 
of  all  Protestants  of  note.  There  it  was  Miss 
Mackintosh  made  the  acquaintance  of  a  young 
theological  student,  Fran9oisCoillard. 

Monsieur  Coillard  had  already  been  for  three 
years  in  Basuto  Land  when  his  betrothed  joined 
him  at  the  Cape.  They  were  married  there 
November  23,  1861.  ''Never,"  said  Madame 
Coillard  to  her  husband  on  her  wedding  day, 
**  never  will  you  find  me  between  you  and 
your  duty;  wherever  you  have  to  go,  be  it  to  the 
end  of  the  world,  I  shall  follow  you."  This 
was  more  than  a  beautiful  saying,  it  was  the 
ruling  principle  of  all  her  life. 

Immediately   after   the    wedding  the    young 

couple  settled  at  Leribe,  a  secluded  spot  of  Ba- 

147 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

suto  Land, where  French  Protestants  have  a  large 
mission.  In  spite  of  many  difficulties,  and  even 
of  a  cruel  war,  which  obliged  them  to  leave  the 
country  for  a  while,  they  spent  there  a  few 
happy  and  comparatively  peaceful  years.  They 
built  a  cottage  and  had  a  beautiful  garden  with 
flowers.  Madame  Coillard  hoped  never  to  leave 
it,  but  the  churches  of  Basuto  Land  had  decided 
to  found  a  mission  field  where  native  evangel- 
ists might  find  some  scope  for  their  activity,  and 
for  that  purpose  Monsieur  Coillard  was  requested 
to  explore  the  land  of  the  Banays.  When  the 
Coillards  heard  of  the  proposal  they  were  just 
about  to  start  on  a  long-wished-for  journey  to 
Europe,  which  they  had  not  seen  for  sixteen 
years;  but  after  ten  days' thought  and  prayer 
they  accepted,  unhesitatingly  sacrificing  all 
their  cherished  plans. 

Now  began  for  Madame  Coillard  a  life  of  ad- 
ventures, perils,  and  sufferings  of  all  kinds.  No 
reward  crowned  her  endeavors  but  that  which 
she  found  in  her  growing  power  of  making 
ever  greater  sacrifices.  After  an  unsuccessful 
expedition  to  the  land  of  the  Banays  Monsieur 
and  Madame  Coillard  visited  the  regions  of  the 
Zambezi,  where  the  language  of  the  Basutos  was 
still  spoken.  This  fact  would  greatly  facilitate 
work  in  that  country,  many  missionaries  being 

already  acquainted  with  that  language.     After 

148 


MADAME  COILLARD 

a  trip  to  Europe  Monsieur  Coillard  returned  with 
his  wife  to  the  Zambezi,  this  time  to  settle 
there. 

We  will  not  follow  Madame  Coillard  in  all 
those  wearisome  journeys,  but  rather  would 
show  the  important  part  the  lady  missionary  has 
to  play,  for,  as  Monsieur  Coillard  says,  *'The 
missionary  is  only  a  missionary  in  so  far  as  his 
wife  is  one  and  helps  him."  She  is  not  merely 
a  housewife,  but  a  lady,  a  nurse,  a  teacher,  a 
mother,  and  often,  alas!  a  martyr. 

The  strange  scenery  in  which  Madame  Coil- 
lard now  found  herself  might  seem  at  first  most 
fascinating.  Untrodden  forests ;  vast  plains  as 
white  as  snow;  mighty  rivers  like  that  beautiful 
blue  Zambezi  flowing  slowly  between  tall  and 
prickly  rushes,  or  darting  suddenly  into  an  abyss, 
roaring  and  sending  up  clouds  of  smoke  into  the 
air.  But  this  fair  picture  has  a  dark,  a  very 
dark,  side  to  it.  Famine  may  at  every  turn 
knock  at  your  door ;  in  the  most  intense  heat 
you  may  have  to  walk  forty  miles  to  get  a  cup  of 
water ;  troops  of  armed  savages  may  attack  your 
peaceful  wagon,  foaming  with  rage  and  yelling 
menaces.  ''We  cannot  but  congratulate  our- 
selves," writes  M.  Coillard,  "upon  having  my 
wife  and  niece  with  us.  The  complications 
which  their  presence  involves  are  nothing  com- 
pared to  the  comfort  they  are  to  us.     My  wife 

149 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

has  taken  her  place  as  mother  and  sister  of 
mercy.     She  is  often  a  providence  to  us." 

The  missionary's  life,  far  from  being  a  con- 
templative one,  is  too  often  made  up  of  very 
humble  duties  which  consume  all  his  time  and 
patience.  Fortunately  Madame  Coillard  was  a 
superior  house  wife.  She  knew  how  to  cut  out 
dresses,  knead  bread,  and  could  even  make  her 
own  soap  and  candles.  Besides  the  ability 
shown  in  such  little  details,  which  can  hardly 
be  called  little  when  we  remember  that  the  lady 
missionary  is  the  chief  agent  of  civilization 
among  women,  she  had  remarkable  aptitudes  for 
superintending. 

Madame  Coillard's  favorite  work  was  teach- 
ing. She  had  unconsciously  prepared  herself  for 
it,  as  a  girl,  when  giving  French  lessons  in 
Paris,  and  she  taught  to  the  very  last.  A  few 
days  before  her  death  she  was  sitting  among  the 
prattling  wives  of  the  king,  cutting  out  dresses 
for  them  and  telling  them  in  her  own  sweet 
way  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son.  But  the 
education  of  those  coarse  women  proved  a  most 
arduous  task,  and  Madame  Coillard  far  pre- 
ferred the  children's  school — that  captivating 
school,  as  she  called  it — which  was  founded  as 
soon  as  they  had  definitely  settled  at  Sefoula. 
They  hoped  it  might  be  a  means  of  drawing  the 

natives  to  the  Gospel  through   their  children. 

150 


MADAME  COILLARD 

The  school  room  was  formed  by  the  shadows  of 
the  trees,  and  instead  of  using  slates  and  copy- 
books the  children  wrote  upon  the  sand.  Chil- 
dren came  in  large  numbers.  King  Lewanika 
held  instruction  in  high  reverence,  and  he  had 
little  huts  built  for  his  sons  near  the  mission 
station  so  that  they  should  lose  no  opportunity 
in  learning.  What  seems  more  wonderful  still, 
the  girls  themselves  would  join  their  brothers. 
Fond  of  her  home  as  she  was,  Madame  Coillard 
decided  to  sacrifice  it,  in  some  measure,  in  or- 
der to  admit  the  daughters  of  the  king  and  the 
little  slaves  into  her  family. 

''This  numerous  household,"  writes  she, 
''  has  been  a  cause  of  much  occupation  to  me, 
but  also  of  deep  interest.  I  cannot  but  thank 
God  with  a  grateful  heart  for  the  privilege  of 
having  all  those  dear  boys  and  girls  under  our 
roof.  Our  four  little  princesses  are  very  obedi- 
ent, clever,  and  industrious.  The  two  daugh- 
ters of  the  king  read  quite  fluently  now,  and  the 
two  other  girls,  already  engaged,  though  so 
young,  to  the  king's  son  and  to  his  nephew, 
are  also  improving.  This  is  a  wide  field  open 
to  us,  and  if  we  had  more  help  and  means,  the 
number  of  children  who  would  come  to  be  taught 
would  be  almost  unlimited." 

Intellect  is  more  easily  developed  than  con- 
science, and  the  little  Barotsis  were  soon  learned 

151 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

enough  to  pass  a  public  examination  in  reading, 
singing,  and  reciting.  That  school  festival 
must  have  been  no  common  spectacle,  honored, 
as  it  was,  by  the  presence  of  the  black  king  him- 
self, who  alternately  encouraged  or  blamed  the 
candidates,  following  the  reading  with  a  book 
in  his  hand.  But,  alas!  she  who  had  given  to 
her  black  daughters  all  this  motherly  love  was 
repaid  by  ingratitude.  Moral  corruption  is 
something  dreadful  in  the  regions  of  the  Zam- 
bezi. Two  of  those  girls  scaled  the  palisades 
at  nigfht  and  fled  into  the  forest  for  most  shame- 
ful  purposes,  and  had  to  be  sent  away  at  once. 
This  was  a  terrible  blow  for  Madame  Coillard. 
She  tried  to  master  her  sorrow,  and  adopted 
other  little  girls, but  she  had  lost  the  mainspring 
of  energy — faith  in  her  work.  Surely  this  bit- 
ter grief  was  one  of  the  causes  w4iich  hastened 
her  end.  Madame  Coillard  had  been  sickly  for 
years,  and  she  and  her  husband  often  allude  to 
fatigues,  to  fever,  ophthalmia,  or  other  illnesses 
from  which  she  suffered ;  but  a  vigorous  mind 
dwelt  in  the  frail  body  and  ruled  it  unmercifully, 
as  a  strong-willed  pilot  governs  a  disabled  ship. 
The  ship  was  bound  for  the  port ;  she  might  be 
wrecked,  but  she  must  not  wander  from  her 
route.  Christina  Coillard  had  consecrated  her 
life  to  African  missions,  and  nothing  could  have 
deterred  her  from  her  vocation. 

152 


MADAME  COILLARD 

Once  Monsieur  Coillard  proposed  to  her  to 
travel  for  her  health.  "  No,"  she  replied;  ''life 
is  too  short  and  our  work  here  too  extensive. 
Let  us  remain  faithfully  at  our  post.  The  Mas- 
ter knows  that  I  want  my  health  ;  and  should  it 
be  his  wish,  he  might  give  it  to  me  here,  with- 
out my  going  to  find  it  elsewhere." 

One  day,  when  returning  from  a  missionary 
journey  with  her  husband  and  a  devoted  young 
Swiss  lady  whom  she  considered  as  her  daugh- 
ter, fever  laid  her  low.  After  a  day  of  great 
mental  agony  she  became  calm  and  serene, 
''  talking  of  invisible  things  as  one  who  is  al- 
ready on  the  threshold  of  heaven."  The  day 
before  her  death  she  said  to  her  husband,  '*  Dy- 
ing is  not  so  difficult  as  I  feared.  It  is  not 
painful ;  and  then  the  passage  is  so  very  short ! 
Underneath  are  the  everlasting  arms."  A  few 
hours  later  she  went  quietly  to  sleep,  in  the 
peace  of  the  Lord,  at  Sefoula,  Zambezi,  October 

28,  1891. 

153 


T 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

MRS.  HANNAH  MARSHMAN 

First  Woman  Missionary  to  India 

HE  first  missionary  to  the  women  of  India, 


and,  indeed,  the  first  of  all  women  mis- 
sionaries in  modern  times,  was  Hannah  Marsh- 
man.  Born  in  England  in  1767,  a  hundred  and 
thirty  years  ago,  she  spent  forty-seven  years  of 
a  happy  married  life  and  a  short  widowhood  in 
the  Baptist  brotherhood  formed  by  her  husband, 
Joshua  Marshman,  D.D.,  with  Carey  and  Ward, 
at  Serampore,  Bengal.  There  she  died,  at  the 
ripe  age  of  eighty  years,  on  March  i,  1847. 
Though  the  mother  of  twelve  children,  Mrs. 
Marshman  trained  the  six  who  survived  for  the 
positions  of  usefulness  and  dignity  which  most 
of  them  filled.  She  spent  almost  every  day  of 
her  long  life  after  she  landed  in  India  in  edu- 
cating the  girls  and  the  women  of  Bengal  to 
know  and  to  serve  Jesus  Christ.  She  supplied 
to  the  brotherhood  all  the  domestic  comfort  and 
much  of  the  loving  harmony  without  which  her 
husband  and  Carey  and  their  associates  could 
not  have  accomplished  half  of  what  the  Holy 
Spirit  enabled  them  to  do.  We  follow  the  Mis- 
sionary Reviezv  of  the  World  in  our  sketch. 

Hannah  Shepherd  was  married  in  the  year 
1 79 1   to  Joshua  Marshman,    then  twenty- three 

154 


MRS.  HANNAH  MARSHMAN 

years  of  age,  and  soon  after  he  resolved  to  join 
the  mission  in  Bengal.  His  young  wife's  pru- 
dence and  care  for  their  two  young  children 
made  her  hesitate  for  a  little,  but  soon  she  too 
'*  cordially"  surrendered  herself  to  the  divine 
call.  On  October  13,  1799,  the  missionary  party 
landed  at  the  Danish  settlement  of  Serampore. 
Falling  on  their  knees,  Mr.  Marshman  led  them 
in  blessing  God  for  the  safe  voyage  and  the  be- 
ginning of  their  mission  to  the  millions  of  India. 

In  the  division  of  labor  among  that  remark- 
able trio  of  missionaries  Carey  had  the  transla- 
tion of  the  Scriptures,  Ward  had  the  press,  and 
the  schools  fell  to  Marshman ;  to  his  wife  far 
more  than  to  him,  as  events  proved.  The  pe- 
cuniary result  of  this  splendid  organization,  as 
it  extended  during  the  next  forty  years,  was 
unique  in  the  history  not  only  of  all  Christian 
missions,  but  of  all  philanthropy.  The  one 
woman  and  the  three  men,  with  the  children 
and  assistants,  were  the  means  of  earning 
nearly  half  a  million  dollars  for  the  work  of 
God  from  the  Persian  Gulf  to  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
Of  this  enormous  contribution,  besides  the  self- 
support  of  the  workers,  Carey  gave  half,  and 
the  woman,  Hannah  Marshman,  gave  at  least 
one  fourth,  or  more  than  one  hundred  thousand 
dollars. 

How  was  this  done?  All  under  the  direct 
155 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

guidance  and  help  of  the  good  providence  of 
God.  An  advertisement  made  it  known  all  over 
North  India  that  girls  and  boys  would  be  re- 
ceived, as  boarders,  to  be  educated  as  Christians 
with  the  Serampore  missionaries'  children. 
The  girls'  school  especially  became  so  famous 
that  we  find  the  three  missionaries  reporting  to 
the  Baptist  society  in  England  at  the  end  of  the 
year  1801  :  "  Last  year  Mrs.  Marshman  opened 
a  school  for  young  ladies,  which  much  increases, 
so  that  we  have  been  under  the  further  neces- 
sity of  enlarging  our  habitation."  It  may  easily 
be  imagined  how  her  own  household  affairs  af- 
fected her  amid  the  threefold  toil  of  her  own 
school,  her  work  among  the  native  women,  and 
her  domestic  care  of  all  the  brotherhood  for  a 
time. 

Four  years  later,  in  January,  1805,  Hannah 
Marshman  reviews  her  five  years'  experience  in 
a  letter  to  a  friend  in  England.  Never  was 
there  such  a  Martha  and  Mary  in  one  as  these 
documents  prove  her  to  have  been,  always  lis- 
tening to  the  voice  of  the  Master,  yet  always 
doing  the  many  things  he  intrusted  to  her  with- 
out feeling  cumbered  or  irritable  or  envious. 
To  this  friend  she  recounts  instances  of  God's 
goodness  only,  noticeably  when  tho  roof  of  an 
addition  to  the  school  fell  in  without  harming 

the  girls.     She  adds  this  unconscious  picture  of 

156 


MRS.  HANNAH  MARSHMAN 

the  happy  life  of  the  brotherhood,  of  which  she, 
in  truth,  formed  the  pervasive  bond: 

"  On  Friday  evenings,  after  worship,  we  gen- 
erally meet  to  sup  and  chat  and  hear  the  Cal- 
cutta news — this  being  the  evening  that  Brother 
Carey  comes  home.  As  I  was  returning  across 
to  our  own  house  I  trod  on  a  serpent,  which 
twisted  round  my  leg  and  gave  my  heel  a  hard 
smack.  I  shook  it  off  and  felt  no  harm.  I  had 
hold  of  Mr.  Marshman's  arm,  or  probably  I 
might  have  fallen  down.  Having  a  lantern,  I 
saw  it  make  its  way  into  the  grass  and  went 
home  a  little  terrified,  but  much  more  surprised. 

"  '  Unhurt,  on  serpents  you  shall  tread, 
When  found  in  duty's  way.' 

Will  any  one  say  the  Lord  is  not  among  us?  .  .  . 
We  are  enlarging  our  coast  on  every  side  by  re- 
pairing and  building,  in  expectation  of  more 
boarders  and  of  visitors  from  America.  We  are 
nearly  sixty  in  number,  yet  we  scarcely  ever  sit 
more  than  twenty  minutes  at  breakfast  or  tea. 
A  chest  of  tea  at  eighty  rupees  [forty-five  dol- 
lars] lasts  three  months  and  a  fortnight.  We 
use  nine  quarts  of  milk  in  a  day;  we  have 
twenty  quarts  for  a  rupee.  ...  At  seven  o'clock 
school  begins;  at  nine  at  night  the  children  are 
in  bed,  after  which  time  is  my  holiday  to  read, 
write,  or  work.  But  I  am  often  so  overcome 
with  fatigue  and  the  scorching  heat  of  the  day 

157 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

that  I  feel  neither  will  nor  power  to  do  any- 
thing- at  all,  and  when  I  sit  down  to  converse  with 
you  it  is  with  a  weary  body,  a  stupid  soul,  and 
dim  eyes ;  but  I  am  sure  of  having  all  my  faults 
lightly  passed  over  and  all  covered  with  love." 

Hannah  Marshman's  "ladies'  school"  was 
an  evangelizing  agency  of  the  most  direct  kind 
apart  from  the  large  sum  which  it  contributed 
to  the  extension  of  native  missions.  Its  pupils 
were  chiefly  Eurasians,  or  East  Indians  of  the 
then  fast-increasing  and  utterly-neglected  com- 
munity who  had  sprung  originally  from  white 
fathers  and  native  mothers.  She  was  the  first 
to  care  for  the  daughters,  so  far  as  these  were 
not  the  orphans  of  military  oflicers  or  soldiers. 
From  her  famous  school  in  a  generation  there 
passed  out  relays  of  truly  Christian  young 
women  trained  and  ready  to  become  missiona- 
ries to  their  native  sisters.  Until  such  agents 
were  educated  and  converted,  and  until  the  in- 
struction of  native  youths  had  made  headway 
in  the  boys'  schools  and  in  the  Serampore  Col- 
lege, female  education  among  the  Hindus  and 
Mohammedans  was  impossible. 

In  the  famous  periodical,  the  Friend  of  India, 
which  flourished  from  1817  to  1875,  the  Seram- 
pore Brotherhood  essays  were  of  such  value  that 
the   earlier  series  were    reprinted   in    London. 

One  of  these,  which  appeared  in  1882,  on  *'  Fe- 

158 


MRS.  HANNAH  MARSHMAN 

male  Education  in  India,"  gave  an  impulse  to 
the  movement  in  which  Hannah  Marshman  was 
the  first  to  toil,  and  for  which  she  had  provided 
the  cultured  teachers. 

All  through  her  later  life  Hannah  Marshman 
was  working  for  the  women  of  the  lower  classes, 
who  could  at  once  be  reached.  In  1824  her 
Serampore  Native  Female  Education  Society, 
formed  to  make  the  movement  permanent  and 
continuous  when  she  should  be  removed,  con- 
ducted fourteen  native  girls'  schools  with  two 
hundred  and  sixty  pupils.  Since  the  adminis- 
trative reforms  and  the  queen's  proclamation  of 
toleration,  and  personal  encouragement  of  na- 
tive female  education  and  medical  aid,  which 
followed  the  mutiny,  Hannah  Marshman's  pio- 
neering self-sacrifice  and  wisdom  have  borne 
richer  and  more  plentiful  fruit  than  even  her 
faith  dared  to  hope.  Since  1847  her  dust  has 
lain  in  the  sacred  inclosure  of  the  mission  ceme- 
tery at  vSerampore  beside  that  of  her  husband 
and  Carey  and  Ward  and  a  child  of  the  Jud- 
sons.  But  the  India  she  knew  is  being  changed, 
and  will  be  transformed,  by  the  principles  she 
was  the  first  to  set  in  motion  for  the  redemption 
of  its  daughters,  without  whose  evangelization 
the  East  can  be  neither  civilized  nor  Christian. 
As  she  was  the  first,  was  not  Hannah  Marshman 
also  one  of  the  greatest  of  women  missionaries? 
13  159 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

MISS  HARRIET  G.  BRITTAN 

Fifty  Years  a  Missionary 

SEVENTY-FIVE  years  of  life,  fifty  of  them 
devoted  to  foreign  missions!  What  a  rec- 
ord of  devotion,  self-abnegation,  and  heroism! 
These  years  were  spent  in  Africa,  India,  and 
Japan. 

It  falls  to  few  women  to  have  such  an  experi- 
ence as  had  Miss  Brittan.  She  was  a  pioneer, 
and  as  such  stands  out  prominently  in  connec- 
tion with  the  modern  movement  for  the  eleva- 
tion of  heathen  women. 

Miss    Brittan    was   born    in    England,   June, 

1822,   and    died    at  the    Occidental  Hotel,   San 

Francisco,  Cal.,  April  30,   1897.     Miss  Brittan 

in  her  early  years  removed  with  her  parents  to 

this  country  and  settled  in  Brooklyn,  where  she 

obtained  a  good  education.      A  terrible  fall  in 

childhood,  from  the  third  to  the  first  floor,  so 

injured  her  spine  that,  until  she  was  eighteen, 

she  could  not  leave  her  bed,  except  as  she  was 

carried.    From  that  time  she  gradually  regained 

her  health,  but  was  never  able   to  walk  well. 

The  strength  of  conviction  that  enabled  her  to 

go  to  Africa  forty-four  years  ago,   in  spite  of 

physical  weakness  and  the  fact  that  she  might 

have  lived  in  luxury  at  home,   as  she  had  a 

160 


MISS    HARRIET    G.    I3RITTAN. 


MISS  HARRIET  G.  BRITTAN 

comfortable  fortune  in  her  own  right,  must 
have  been  irresistible.  She  was  sent  out  by 
the  Domestic  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society 
of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church  to  Africa, 
but  she  could  not  live  there,  being  constantly 
attacked  by  fever,  which  compelled  her  return. 
It  w^as  a  terrible  trial  to  her  to  leave,  the  more 
so  because  she  had  promised  to  become  the  wife 
of  a  missionary  there.  He  could  live  in  Africa, 
she  could  not.  To  his  proposal  to  leave  that 
field  for  one  in  which  she  could  live  her  high 
ideal  of  duty  would  not  allow  her  to  listen  for  a 
moment.  No ;  she  would  not  take  him  from 
his  work.  She  endured  the  climate  as  long 
as  she  could,  and  was  finally  carried  on  board  a 
sailing  ship,  with  little  expectation  that  she 
would  live  to  reach  home.  The  fact  that  the 
voyage  proved  to  be  just  the  thing  needed  to  re- 
store her  is,  probably,  one  reason  for  her  eager- 
ness to  undertake  the  last  voyage  of  her  life. 
During  the  year  or  two  of  convalescence,  it  must 
have  been,  that  she  wrote  her  very  interesting 
little  book  on  Africa,  which  she  gave  to  the 
society  that  sent  her  out. 

The  Woman's  Union  Missionary  Society,  or- 
ganized in  i860,  selected  Miss  Brittan  as  one 
of  its  first  missionaries  to  India.  She  went  to 
Calcutta,    and  was   one  of   the   first  American 

missionaries  to  enter  the  secluded  homes  of  the 

163 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

women.  Well  does  the  writer  remember,  upon 
arriving  in  Calcutta  in  1861,  visiting  Miss  Brittan 
in  her  home,  just  established,  and  visiting  with 
her  several  of  the  zenanas.  She  inaugurated 
and  carried  on  most  successfully  this  branch  of 
work  for  twenty  years. 

While  in  India  her  feelings  of  sorrow  for  the 
Indian  women  found  expression  in  a  work  called 
Kardoo,  and  a  second  called  SJiusJwne,  which 
revealed  how  badly  women  were  treated,  and 
aroused  the  religious  world  to  great  efforts 
to  send  missionaries  to  their  assistance. 

She  was  an  accomplished  needlewoman,  and 
by  teaching  her  art  she  obtained  entrance  to 
many  places  not  before  accessible  to  foreigners. 

We  may  not  be  able  to  properly  characterize 
Miss  Brittan's  work  or  its  influence.  She  went 
to  India  at  a  time  when  prejudices  against 
woman's  education  and  elevation  were  mvinof 
way.  Her  tact,  spiritual  insight,  and  judgment 
were  all  taxed  to  meet  the  new  conditions,  but 
she  did  it,  and  established  a  work  that  has 
grown  to  great  proportions.  She  was  one  of  the 
first  to  perceive  the  enormous  advantage  pos- 
sessed by  women  with  a  good  medical  training, 
and  was  a  strong  advocate  of  the  education  of 
female  missionaries  in  the  leading  training 
schools  for  nurses  or  in  the  women's  medi- 
cal schools  of  the  country. 

164 


MISS  HARRIET  G.  BRITTAN 

After  her  service  in  India  she  returned  for  a 
year  to  America,  and  for  a  time  was  at  the 
head  of  a  ward  in  St.  Luke's  Hospital ,  in  the 
city  of  New  York.  She  was  an  indefatigable 
worker,  and  was  the  promoter  of  many  concerts 
in  New  York  and  vicinity,  by  means  of  which 
thousands  of  dollars  were  gathered  for  mission- 
ary work. 

After  her  resignation  from  the  Union  Mis- 
sionary Society  Japan  was  the  scene  of  her 
efforts — her  last  as  a  missionary.  Under  the 
auspices  of  the  Protestant  Methodist  Missionary 
Society  she  went  to  Yokohama  in  1880  and  took 
charge  of  a  large  mission  established  for  the 
benefit  of  Eurasian  children,  who  were  often 
left  in  destitute  circumstances.  Until  1893  she 
was  identified  wdth  this  mission,  and  more  re- 
cently established,  and  had  charge  of  a  home  for 
missionaries,  by  w^hom  she  was  greatly  beloved. 

At  the  age  of  sixty-three  she  gave  up  regular 
mission  work.  In  the  meantime  business  re- 
verses had  swept  away  her  fortune  and,  having 
been  very  liberal,  she  found  herself  at  this  age 
with  very  limited  means. 

Miss  Brittan  in  the  early  spring  of  1897  dis- 
posed of  her  property  in  Yokohama  and  started 
for  America.  She  had  been  in  poor  health  for 
several  months,  but  hoped  the  sea  air  would 
build  her  up  so  that  she  could  make  the  over- 

165 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

land  journey.  She  sailed  from  Japan  April  13, 
but  gradually  grew  weaker.  When  carried  from 
the  steamer  to  the  carriage  she  fainted.  Upon 
arriving  at  the  hotel  everything  was  done  for 
her  comfort,  but  she  passed  away  the  next  day. 
She  had  hoped  to  reach  New  York  to  see  an 
adopted  daughter,  who  was  ill  at  St.  Luke's 
Hospital,  but  this  was  denied  her.  Knowing 
this  would  be  impossible,  she  said,  "  Just  as  He 
wills;  just  as  He  wills."  The  funeral  services 
were  held  at  an  Episcopal  church  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, as  she  was  a  member  of  that  body,  and 
she  was  laid  to  rest  in  a  cemetery  there  over- 
looking the  Pacific  Ocean. 

166 


MRS.  JOHN  GEDDIE  AND  MRS.  JOHN  INGLIS 


MRS.  JOHN  GEDDIE  and   MRS.  JOHN 
INGLlS 

WOMEN,  in  their  devotion  to  God's  cause 
over  the  world,  have  never  been  deterred 
by  any  form  of  heathenism.  With  cultured 
intellects,  womanly  tenderness,  and  spiritual 
devotion  they  have  gone  into  unhealthy  cli- 
mates, suffered  privations,  isolation,  and  even 
death  at  the  hands  of  those  for  whom  they 
labored. 

The  history  of  woman's  work  in  the  New 
Hebrides  islands  has  been  one  of  singular  devo- 
tion and  sacrifice,  and  no  missionary  field  has 
had  more  heroic  women.  To  Mrs.  Dr.  Geddie 
was  given  the  herculean  task  of  laying  the 
foundations  of  Christian  education  among  the 
debased  women  of  these  far-away  islands  in  the 
southern  seas.  In  the  year  1848  she  and  her 
husband  reached  the  New  Hebrides,  where  they 
had  a  trying  experience  in  dealing  with  a  low 
and  savage  people.  Hurricane,  disease,  and 
death  were  traced  to  the  missionary;  the  na- 
tives stole  their  property  and  threatened  to 
burn  their  houses  and  to  take  their  lives.  This 
she  endured  for  twenty-five  years.  ^Irs.  Geddie 
came   in    contact  with  polygamy,  with    all   its 

167 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

accompanying  cruelties,  the  horrors  of  infanti- 
cide, the  sacrifice  of  human  lives,  and  every 
form  of  evil  and  degrading  superstition.  Again 
and  again  was  her  life  threatened,  but  quietly 
she  labored  on,  establishing  schools  for  women 
and  children,  and  teaching  them  the  very  first 
rudiments  of  civilized  life.  Apart  from  her 
own  distinctive  work  she  aided  her  husband  in 
literary  work,  especially  in  the  translation  of 
the  Scriptures.  Her  use  of  the  language  was 
so  extraordinary  that  the  natives  said  she  spoke 
it  ''just  like  a  native,  and  her  words  were  all 
the  same  as  theirs,"  which  was  the  very  highest 
encomium  they  could  pronounce.  For  four  years 
she  was  without  the  sympathy  or  presence  or 
support  of  a  sister  missionary,  until  the  arrival 
of  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Inglis  in  1852. 

Mrs.  John  Inglis  was  a  Scotch  woman  of  rare 
natural  ability,  and  her  life  is  interwoven  with 
the  history  of  this  mission.  She  received  her 
education  in  one  of  the  best  schools  in  Scot- 
land and  she  became  an  expert  in  domestic 
training  in  a  large  family ;  which  experience 
fitted  her  for  the  position  she  was  to  fill  as  a 
missionary's  wife.  Her  first  work  after  arriving 
on  the  islands  was  to  gather  the  girls  in  a  school, 
and  while  she  taught  them  she  acquired  the  lan- 
guage. Then  followed  the  industrial  school,  so 
essential   in   all   missions.     Then   she   selected 

16S 


MRS.  JOHN  GEDDIE  AND  MRS.  JOHN  INGLIS 

seven  young  and  promising  women  and  cared 
for  them  on  her  own  premises,  instructing  them 
in  every  phase  of  household  work.  Every 
young  woman  on  the  side  of  the  island  occupied 
by  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Inglis  was  thus  trained,  and 
the  results  were  most  remarkable. 

These  women  excelled  in  committing  the 
Scriptures  to  memory.  On  one  occasion  a  lady 
in  Scotland  sent  out  a  piece  of  cloth  for  a  dress 
to  the  one  who  should  lead  in  this  department. 
The  task  for  competition  was  the  first  six 
chapters  of  Acts.  Instead  of  one,  there  were 
six  who  repeated  every  chapter  without  missing 
a  word,  and  as  a  consequence  six  dresses,  in- 
stead of  one,  had  to  be  provided. 

Mrs.  Inglis  never  waited  for  some  great  op- 
portunity, she  cheerfully  accepted  the  day  of 
small  things,  and  toiled  patiently  and  unobtru- 
sively with  the  w^ork  that  lay  nearest  her  hand. 
During  all  the  long  and  weary  years  she  lived 
on  the  islands,  often  not  seeing  a  white  face  for 
five  or  six  months,  except  her  husband's,  she 
never  repined  and  never  gave  way  to  any  feel- 
ing of  homesickness.  Her  influence  over  the 
women  was  wonderful.  They  came  to  her  with 
all  their  ailments,  and  told  her  all  their  griefs 
and  sorrows.  At  the  end  of  eight  years'  work 
eighteen  hundred  people  had  renounced  hea- 
thenism and  accepted  Christianity.     Every  one 

169 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

of  them  was  clothed  in  garments  that  Mrs.  Ingis 
had  cut  and  had  assisted  in  making. 

She  aided  her  husband  in  translating  and  re- 
vising the  Scriptures,  and  was  an  accurate 
critic.  Dr.  Inglis  said;  "I  read  her  every 
chapter  I  translated.  She  listened  attentively 
to  the  last  revision,  and  made  suggestions  which 
I  always  heeded.  Every  final  proof  she  attested 
twice  at  least.  After  I  had  corrected  the  proofs 
till  I  thought  them  perfect  she  took  the  author- 
ized English  Bible  and  read  it  over  slowly  word 
by  word,  naming  also  every  stop,  while  I  watched 
the  translation  to  see  that  no  word  was  omitted, 
no  word  added.  Owing  to  the  different  idioms 
of  the  two  languages  the  points  are  not  always 
inserted  in  the  same  places  in  sentences,  and 
one  can  scarcely  comprehend  the  labor  re- 
quired." In  twenty-nine  years  the  entire  Bible, 
Pilgrim  s  Progress  abridged,  a  hymnal,  grammar, 
dictionary,  and  some  other  books  were  printed. 

Again  her  husband  says:  "I  never  wrote 
anything  for  publication  which  I  did  not  submit 
to  her  for  criticism.  Many  a  line  she  made 
me  score  out,  and  many  a  one  she  made  me 
alter.  'I  think,'  she  said,  'you  would  better 
leave  that  out ;  it  is  very  good,  and  I  suppose 
all  true,  but  there  is  rather  too  much  about 
yourself  in  it.'  " 

Mrs.  Inglis  introduced  the  making  of  arrow- 
170 


MRS.  JOHN  GEDDIE  AND  MRS.  JOHN  INGLIS 

root  on  the  ivsland.  The  root  grew  there,  but 
the  natives  did  not  understand  preparing  it  for 
use.  A  woman  from  Raratonga  understood  the 
method,  and  taught  Mrs.  Inglis,  who  then  of- 
fered to  buy  all  that  the  natives  would  bring 
to  her.  Three  hundred  pounds  was  the  result 
of  her  first  effort ;  this  was  taken  to  New  Zea- 
land and  sold,  and  orders  were  received  for 
half  a  ton  the  following  year.  In  this  way  the 
natives  paid  the  expense  incident  to  publishing 
the  entire  Aneityunese  Bible,  and  in  this  way 
was  the  industry  established  by  a  woman's  per- 
severance; not  originally  as  an  article  of  com- 
merce, but  as  a  contribution  to  the  mission. 

Mrs.  Inglis  possessed  wonderful  executive 
and  administrative  power.  She  was  never  hur- 
ried, and  everything  in  her  house  and  in  her 
schools  moved  with  the  regularity  of  clock- 
work. Frequently  they  entertained,  in  their 
isolated  home,  officers  from  the  ships  in  harbor, 
and  the  captain  of  one,  who  had  shared  her  hos- 
pitality, said,  "She  could  have  conducted  the 
commissariat  department  of  a  man-of-war." 

So  punctual  was  she  in  all  matters  that  a 
gentleman  from  Australia  visiting  there  said  of 
her,  "  I  have  lived  on  board  a  man-of-war,  and 
in  many  places  where  order  reigned,  but  I 
never  saw  punctuality  like  hers." 

Her  intense  individuality  and  power  were 
171 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

felt  in  every  direction.  On  one  occasion  a 
woman  near  the  mission  house  gave  birth  to  a 
daughter,  the  third  born  to  her  in  succession. 
She  was  greatly  disappointed  that  it  was  not  a 
son,  and  cried  out  to  the  nurse,  "  O,  kill  it,  kill 
it!"  The  request  was  refused,  but  the  utter- 
ance showed  how  little  value  was  placed  upon 
the  life  of  a  girl.  Mrs.  Inglis,  hearing  of  this, 
said  she  must  save  the  girls.  She  did  not  de- 
nounce the  mothers,  for  they  knew  nothing 
better,  but  with  consummate  tact  she  drew 
them  into  her  plan.  She  told  them  of  her  love 
for  girls,  and  promised  to  give  a  nice  dress  to 
every  little  girl  whose  mother  would  bring  it  to 
her  as  soon  as  she  was  able.  She  prepared  gar- 
ments, and  when  the  mother  brought  a  newly- 
born  girl  she  dressed  it  and  caressed  it,  and 
spoke  kindly  and  lovingly  to  the  mother.  The 
desired  effect  was  produced,  and  since  then  not 
a  girl  has  been  killed  or  vSeriously  injured  on 
the  island.  By  her  knowledge  of  medicine  she 
gained  great  influence.  A  man  and  his  young 
wife  brought  their  sick  and  apparently  dying 
child  to  the  mission  house.  Mrs.  Inglis  took 
the  child,  bathed  it  carefully,  wrapped  it  in  a 
soft  blanket,  gave  it  a  little  simple  remedy,  and 
the  child  eventually  recovered.  The  father,  a 
most  forbidding-looking  savage,  was  greatly 
touched,   abandoned   heathenism,   and   became 

172 


MRS.  JOHN  GEDDIE  AND  MRS.  JOHN  INGLIS 

an  earnest  Christian.  On  another  occasion  a 
man  and  his  wife  went  to  the  mission  house  to 
borrow  a  spade,  but  were  questioned  as  to  what 
they  wanted  it  for.  The  father  replied  he  was 
going  to  dig  a  grave  for  his  child.  "  When 
did  the  child  die  ?"  asked  Mrs.  Inglis.  "O,  it 
is  not  dead,  but  dying,"  said  the  man.  ''  Bring 
it  at  once  to  me,"  said  Mrs.  Inglis.  She  cared 
for  this  as  she  had  for  others,  and  it  soon  re- 
vived. The  father  was  in  an  ecstasy  of  delight, 
and  seemed  to  foro^et  about  the  o^rave  and  the 
spade.  By  such  acts  repeated  daily,  not  only 
saving  lives,  but  alleviating  suffering,  she  ex- 
erted an  amazing  influence  over  the  people. 
She  had  no  children  of  her  own,  but  her  heart 
went  out  for  others,  and  her  spiritual  children 
were  numerous.  She  had  a  remarkable  con- 
stitution, which  enabled  her  to  endure.  "  For 
more  than  half  a  century,"  said  Dr.  Inglis,  "  or 
from  her  fourteenth  to  her  sixty-fifth  year, 
every  day  she  had  done  a  full  woman's  work, 
and  yet  with  all  her  varied  duties  and  responsi- 
bilities she  never  thought  of  herself  but  as  an 
ordinary  woman,  doing  an  ordinary  woman's 
work ;  doing  nothing  but  what  some  other 
woman  might  do." 

After  thirty-three  years  of  service  in  the  for- 
eign field  she  returned  to  her  Scotland  home, 
and  for  four  years  assisted  her  husband  in  car- 

173 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

rying  the  Old  Testament  through  the  press,  and 
in  various  ways  promoting  the  interests  of  the 
mission  which  she  loved  and  to  v/hich  she  had 
given  her  life.  Suddenly  the  messenger  sum- 
moned her  home — so  suddenly  that  it  seemed 
more  a  translation  than  dying.      *'  She  was  not, 

for  God  took  her." 

174 


MISS  LOUISA  H.  ANSTEY 


MISS  LOUISA  H.  ANSTEY 

THE  name  of  Miss  Anstey  will  ever  be  iden- 
tified with  the  organization  of  the  Kolar 
Mission,  southern  India. 

Kolar  is  a  town  in  the  province  of  Mysore, 
with  a  population  of  about  twenty  thousand. 
To  that  village  some  time  in  the  "  sixties  "  came 
Miss  Anstey.  She  had  formerly  belonged  to 
the  London  Missionary  Society,  but  was  com- 
pelled to  leave  India  on  account  of  her  health. 
After  her  restoration,  having  her  own  means, 
she  decided  to  return  to  India  as  an  independ- 
ent missionary,  and  select  some  spot  where  the 
need  was  great.  This  spot  Avas  Kolar.  No 
other  Christians  lived  within  forty  miles  of  her 
— a  sea  of  heathenism  forty  miles  deep  rolled 
around  this  lonel}^  missionary  outpost. 

She  hired  a  native  house,  and  making  this 
her  headquarters,  went  from  house  to  house  in 
the  village,  endeavoring  to  reach  the  hearts  of 
the  women  and  the  girls  in  such  homes  as  would 
admit  her.  Her  progress  was  very  slow.  Kolar 
was  a  high -caste  Brahman  village.  The  preju- 
dices of  the  people  against  foreigners  and  Chris- 
tians were  intense.  While  she  was  making  but 
small  headway,  in  spite  of  diligent  attention  to 
her  work,  there  swept   over  southern   India  a 

13  175 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

terrible  famine.  For  three  long  years  there 
was  no  rain.  The  poverty  of  India  is  such  that 
one  season's  rain  failure  means  starvation  to  a 
majority  of  the  inhabitants.  Two  seasons'  fail- 
ure means  abject  poverty,  and  in  many  cases 
death.  A  third  season's  failure  meant  the  most 
dreadful  famine  with  which  southern  India  had 
been  afflicted  in  recent  times.  Miss  Anstey 
visited  from  home  to  home,  and  was  deeply 
touched  by  the  pathetic  scenes  around  her. 
Unwilling  to  witness  the  destitution  and  bitter 
sufferings  of  the  people  without  doing  what  she 
could  to  help  them,  she  purchased  such  stores  of 
grain  as  her  means  would  allow,  and  cooking 
portions  of  food,  carried  them  in  baskets  from 
house  to  house,  ministering  to  the  bodies  as 
well  as  to  the  souls  of  the  perishing. 

When  the  villagers  learned  of  her  practical 
kindness  they  began  to  put  in  her  way  scores  of 
little  children  whom  their  parents  had  aban- 
doned. Miss  Anstey  did  not  question  long 
what  her  duty  might  be.  She  took  the  little 
waifs  into  her  home  as  fast  as  she  could  carry 
them.  Presently  there  were  sixty-four  tiny 
emaciated  mortals  demanding  her  care.  She 
did  the  best  she  could  with  them.  They  were 
washed,  fed  with  rice  gruel,  clothed  in  calico, 
and  laid  in  rows  on  extemporized  beds.  But 
scarcely  was  the  first  batch  cared  for  when  Asi- 

176 


MISS  LOUISA  H.  ANSTEY 

atic  cholera,  that  dreadful  disease  which  follows 
in  the  wake  of  famine,  broke  out  among  the 
babies,  and  the  ministering  lady  went  from  one 
to  the  other,  using  such  simple  remedies  as 
were  at  hand.  Notwithstanding  all  her  efforts 
a  great  many  children  died,  but  the  natives 
around  her  would  not  allow  her  to  suffer  for 
lack  of  babies.  It  literally  rained  babies  around 
the  mission  house.  Little  bundles  of  dirty  rags 
with  emaciated  babies  in  the  midst  of  them 
were  found  on  her  doorsteps,  in  her  yard,  on 
the  street,  everywhere  in  her  vicinity.  As  fast 
as  they  came  she  did  what  she  could  to  care  for 
them.  They  were  to  her  God's  charge.  So 
long  as  he  sent  them  she  would  care  for  them. 
If  her  means  gave  out,  he  would  send  more.  It 
was  his  work  ;  she  was  his  servant.  Her  repu- 
tation spread  far  and  wide.  ''  What  makes  you 
care  for  these  deserted  children  ?  "  said  the  peo- 
ple. ''  Why  should  you,  a  woman  of  another 
race,  educated,  cultivated,  care  for  these  pov- 
erty-stricken little  ones  ?  What  makes  you  so 
interested  in  them  ?  " 

This  was  her  opportunity  to  talk  to  them  and 
tell  them  of  God's  loving  interest  in  mankind. 
Her  orphanage  grew ;  help  flowed  in  from  all 
quarters ;  friends  in  India,  Europe,  and  even 
in  America  sent  her  relief.  Although  disease 
spread  among  the  children  and  one  half  of  them 

177 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

were  taken  away  by  death,  a  year  and  a  half 
after  the  famine  Miss  Anstey  found  herself  with 
over  six  hundred  little  boys  and  girls  looking  to 
her  for  protection  and  loving  care.  For  twenty 
years  Miss  Anstey  heroically  carried  these  re- 
sponsibilities, throwing  her  whole  life  into  the 
enterprise. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  her  vSchool  stood  a 
Christian  village.  There  was  a  Christian  com- 
munity, with  a  Christian  pastor  and  evangelists, 
who  went  out  through  the  neighborhood  preach- 
ing Christ. 

In  1890  Miss  Anstey  made  the  entire  work 
over  to  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  its 
village,  its  ophanage,  its  mission  farms,  its  pas- 
tors and  evangelists  are  now  a  great  mission 
center  among  the  Canarese  of  southern  India. 

178 


MISS  ELIZA  AGNEW 

MISS  ELIZA  AGNEW 

TO  go  half  way  round  the  world  is  now  the 
voyage  of  a  holiday.  It  was  very  different 
when,  in  1839,  Miss  Eliza  Agnew  sailed  from 
Boston  to  Ceylon.  She  went  never  intending 
to  come  back.  For  forty- three  years  she  la- 
bored, but  she  never  returned  to  America.  ''  I 
gave  it  all  up  when  I  left  America,"  she  said. 
Her  decision  was  no  sentimental  idea  of  duty. 
She  was  not  a  sentimentalist.  It  was  no  stern 
conception  of  missionary  denial.  With  her 
hearty  concurrence  others  took  needed  home 
furloughs,  but  as  for  herself,  she  stayed;  and 
somehow  she  did  not  seem  to  miss  the  inspira- 
tion or  the  bodily  health  which  others  received 
from  the  journeys  home.  Born  in  New  York 
city,  Miss  Agnew  did  not  enter  foreign  mission- 
ary work  until  she  was  over  thirty  years  of  age. 
She  was  sent  by  the  board  to  Ceylon  to  work  in 
the  Oodooville  Boarding  School.  No  single 
lady  had  been  sent  before  to  Ceylon,  and  the 
people  could  not  at  first  understand  that  a  woman 
actually  unmarried  should  come  so  far.  Miss 
Agnew  was  fond  of  relating  how,  the  day  she 
arrived,  while  busy  in  her  room,  two  bright 
black  eyes  peered  up  at  her  through  a  conven- 
ient hole  in  the  hedge,  and  a  small  voice  anx- 
iously asked,  "  Please,  where  is  Mr.  Agnew  ?  " 

179 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH   FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

The  present  Oodooville  School  is  in  a  large 
structure  built  of  the  white  coral  stone  of  the 
country,  with  wide  verandas  gracefully  arched, 
and  tiled  floors  and  roofs — a  building  whose 
beauty  is  a  feature  that  is  properly  emphasized 
by  all  who  love  the  school.  The  school  in  Miss 
Agnew's  day  was  not  so  housed.  It  was  in  a 
long,  low  stucco  building,  whitewashed  without 
and  within,  its  floors  of  country  cement  and  its 
roof  thatched  with  palm  leaves,  in  which  the 
little  squirrels  nested  and  from  which  a  snake 
now  and  then  dropped.  One  of  the  rooms,  long 
and  low,  was  the  bedroom.  Here  each  girl 
spread  her  mat  at  night  and  slept  wrapped  in 
her  cloth.  Another  was  the  dining  room,  where 
the  girls  sat  around  on  the  long  palm-leaf  mat 
at  meal  time  and  ate  rice  and  curry  with  their 
fingers. 

Much  of  the  growth  had  already  taken  place 
when  Miss  Agnew  came.  She  died  an  old  lady 
in  1883,  but  the  first  stages  of  the  mission  had 
already  passed  before  she  came  to  the  field. 
That  belongs  to  the  story  of  a  still  earlier  gen- 
eration. The  education  of  girls  had  been  going 
on  for  twenty  years.  The  idea  had  lost  its  as- 
sociation of  degradation,  and  girls  were  often 
brought  by  heathen  parents  who  were  strangers 
to  the  missionaries  to  be  placed  in  the  school. 
Miss  Agnew  found  ninety-five   girls  at  Oodoo- 

180 


MISS  ELIZA  AGNEW 

ville,  and  every  year  more  were  brought  than 
could  be  accommodated. 

For  forty  years  she  was  the  efficient  principal 
of  the  school.  She  was  an  excellent  example 
of  what  we  do  not  think  enough  of  in  America 
— the  power  of  long-continued  missionary  serv- 
ice. The  oriental  honors  age  and  appreciates 
combined  labor,  while  things  there  move  so 
slowly  that  a  short  period  of  work  accomplishes 
less  than  here.  Miss  Agnew  saw  three  and 
four  generations  of  pupils.  All  the  province 
came  to  know  and  love  her.  To  thirteen  hun- 
dred women  she  was  the  one  embodiment  really 
known  of  education  and  Christianity.  Her 
power  was  in  geomietrical  ratio  to  her  length  of 
service.  Wherein  lay  her  power?  First,  in  her 
justice.  One  must  live  in  an  Eastern  country, 
and  see  how  universally  the  people  distrust  each 
other,  to  realize  what  a  power  this  quality  may 
be.  The  girls  learned  that  she  was  to  be  trusted 
to  do  what  was  right.  Coupled  with  that  was 
her  personal  sympathy  and  care.  Nothing 
shows  her  whole  character  better  than  the  way 
in  which  the  vacations  of  her  later  life  were 
spent.  One  vacation  she  reserved  for  rest  for 
herself,  at  a  little  thatched  bungalow  on  the 
north  coast  of  Ceylon,  where  the  coral  rocks  dip 
down  into  the  warm  Eastern  sea ;  the  other  va- 
cation  she   gave  to  her  girls  of  former  years. 

i8i 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

She  visited  each  station  in  the  mission,  and  it 
was  understood  by  all  that  she  had  come  to  see 
the  former  Oodooville  scholars.  '*  CJiennanuna 
[little  lady]  writes  that  she  is  coming  this 
week,"  a  missionary  lady  would  say  to  the 
Christian  women  at  her  station.  Their  bright 
black  eyes  would  light  up,  and  then  they  would 
look  at  each  other  shyly  and  laugh,  and  one 
more  bold  than  the  others  would  say :  ' '  We  are 
glad.  Now  we  must  go  home  and  see  that  the 
children's  clothes  are  mended,  and  the  yard 
swept,  and  everything  made  neat."  During 
the  week  she  would  go  to  see  some  woman  mar- 
ried and  settled  years  before.  She  would  praise 
the  yard,  the  fruit  trees,  the  neatness  of  the 
cooking  utensils,  and  the  clean  faces  of  the  chil- 
dren. But  perhaps  the  cloth  of  one  little  one 
had  an  unsightly  rent.  "O,  my  Anarche!"  she 
would  say,  "  is  this  the  way  you  learned  to  take 
care  of  clothes?  You  have  not  lost  your  needles 
and  thread  down  the  well,  have  you?  Now,  the 
next  time  I  come  you  must  have  the  clothes  all 
as  nice  and  neat  as  are  the  pretty  little  ones  that 
wear  them."  So,  with  loving  praise  and  kindly 
reproof,  all  the  little  matters  of  the  household 
were  noted.  The  women  grew  old  and  their 
grandchildren  took  the  place  of  their  children, 
but  they  were  still  her  girls  to  Miss  Agnew,  and 
she  still  kept  the  same  loving  watch  over  them 

182 


MISS  ELIZA  AGNEW 

as  in  the  first  years  Avhen  they  went  from  the 
school  to  their  own  homes.  Do  you  w^onder 
that  her  name  is,  in  the  most  literal  sense,  a 
household  word  in  all  that  part  of  Ceylon  ? 

It  seems  almost  like  intruding  to  enter  Miss 
Agnew's  private  religious  life,  but  here  lay  the 
strength  of  her  long,  useful  career.  Her  reli- 
gious life  was  the — shall  I  say  old-fashioned, 
outspoken  kind?  If  anything  went  very  wrong 
and  was  very  exasperating,  a  little  sigh,  and  ''  I'll 
tell  the  Master  "  was  all  she  said.  Her  pupils 
used  to  say  that  no  morning  bell  was  needed  to 
rouse  them,  for  at  the  same  time  each  morning, 
before  daylight,  they  heard  her,  in  her  adjoin- 
ing room,  rise  and  pray  for  the  school  and  for 
them  individually.  There  was  no  doubt  about 
the  guiding  power  of  her  life.  It  was  Christ. 
But  she  did  not  ''hold  down  the  Gospel"  in 
selfishness.  Methods  changed  and  new  things 
came  up  after  she  left  America,  and  later  mis- 
sionaries brought  out  *'  newfangled  notions," 
but  she  took  an  interest  in  them  all. 

In  1879  i\Iiss  Agnew  resigned  her  position  as 
principal  of  Oodooville  vSchool.  At  this  time  it 
was  suggested  by  the  mission  that  she  might 
like  to  return  to  America  to  visit  her  friends  in 
her  native  land.  Her  characteristic  reply  was: 
*'  My  work  for  the  women  of  Jaffna  is  not  yet 
finished.      'Guide  me,  O  thou  great  Jehovah!' 

1S3 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

is  my  daily  prayer.  In  that  hope  will  I  rest." 
After  a  brief  visit  to  the  Pulney  Hills  she  moved 
to  Manepy,  expressing  a  desire  to  spend  her 
declining  years  among  the  native  Christians. 
Her  days  were  spent  in  making  calls  upon  old 
graduates  and  seeing  women  in  her  room.  The 
old  pupils  who  had  yielded  to  temptation  and 
strayed  from  the  fold  were  not  forgotten,  but 
visited  and  revisited,  prayed  with,  and  earnestly 
exhorted  to  return  to  the  Lord. 

In  June,  1883,  Miss  Agnew  received  a  partial 
paralytic  shock,  and  after  that  was,  more  or  less, 
confined  to  her  room  until  the  end  came.  The 
native  women  considered  it  a  privilege  to  care 
for  her,  but  in  her  half-unconscious  state  she 
longed  for  her  own  countrywomen,  and  the  mis- 
sionary ladies  were  glad  to  be  with  her  who  had 
been  so  much  to  them.  On  the  14th  of  June, 
1883,  she  peacefully  passed  away.  The  funeral 
was  held  the  next  day,  and  many  Christian 
families  attended.  She  was  buried  at  Oodoo- 
ville,  in  the  "  Campo  Sancto  "  of  Jaffna,  where 
many  of  the  missionaries  lie,  and  only  a  few 
steps  from  her  home  of  so  many  years. 

More  than  one  thousand  girls  studied  under 
her,  and  wshe  taught  the  children  and  grandchil- 
dren of  her  first  pupils.  They  called  her  "  The 
mother  of  a  thousand  daughters." 

More  than  six  hundred  girls  came  out  of  the 
184 


MISS  ELIZA  AGNEW 

school  Christians.  No  girl  having  taken  the 
whole  course  ever  graduated  as  a  heathen. 
When  she  was  dying  the  house,  every  room  of 
it,  was  filled  with  native  Christian  women  who 
had  been  her  pupils,  engaged  in  prayer  for  her. 
When  she  was  buried  in  her  island  home  native 
pastors,  catechists,  lawyers,  teachers,  govern- 
ment officials,  leading  men  of  the  Jaffna  Penin- 
sula, who  had  married  her  pupils,  attended  her 
funeral,  and  the  influence  of  this  American 
woman  has  been  felt  all  over  that  island.— 
Katharine  Hastings  Wood,  in  Life  and  Light  for 

Woman, 

185 


THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH   FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 


GERTRUDE  EGEDE 

GERTRUDE  RAST,  wife  of  Hans  Egede, 
was  the  first  missionary  to  Greenland ; 
for,  though  many  are  familiar  with  the  story 
of  Egede's  life,  one  is  apt  to  remember  of  his 
wife  only,  that,  like  Christiana,  she  opposed  her 
husband  at  the  outset  with  tears  and  entreaties, 
and  to  forget  that  for  fifteen  years  she  shared 
his  labors  and  trials  in  Greenland,  and  that  she 
never  lost  faith,  even  when  her  husband  was 
tempted  to  give  up  the  mission  in  despair. 

The  story  of  the  Greenland  Mission,  like  the 
story  of  the  Reformation,  begins  with  a  book. 
In  the  library  of  a  young  minister  settled  at 
Vaagen,  on  the  coast  of  Norway,  was  an  old 
chronicle  which  told  how  a  Christian  church 
and  colonies  had  been  founded  in  Greenland  as 
early  as  the  tenth  century ;  how  three  hundred 
villages  had  sprung  up  in  the  land,  and  fourteen 
bishops  in  succession  had  ruled  over  the  church, 
when  the  heathen  of  the  north  beset  the  colony 
by  land  and  sea,  and  such  of  the  Christians  as 
remained  were  driven  back  from  the  coast. 
The  church  had  been  lost  and  forgotten,  till 
now  for  long  centuries  they  had  been  left  as 
sheep  without  a  shepherd. 

The   minister  of  Vaagen  had  been  so  happy 

!86 


GERTRUDE  EGEDE 


GERTRUDE  EGEDE 

in  his  home  and  in  the  love  and  respect  of  his 
people  that  when  he  proposed  to  leave  all  and 
go  on  a  mission  to  the  lost  church  of  Greenland 
his  friends  looked  upon  him  as  one  demented. 
His  wife  "  resolutely  opposed  the  idea,"  and  her 
mother  "  added  her  voice  to  the  general  outcry." 
"  The  elders  of  his  church  came  in  solemn  order 
as  a  deputation  to  the  parsonage  "  to  tell  what 
trouble  the  pastor's  new  ideas  were  bringing 
among  the  people.  At  the  end  of  the  conference 
an  old  white-headed  man  stepped  up  and  said : 
' '  Wait  and  see  what  the  will  of  the  Lord  is.  If  it 
is  his  will  for  you  to  go,  he  will  give  you  a  sign 
that  none  of  us  shall  be  able  to  gainsay."  So  they 
waited  and  prayed,  and  the  answer  came — but 
not  such  as  they  had  either  expected  or  desired. 
Many  divisions  and  troubles  arose  in  the  con- 
gregation, and  the  minister  and  his  wife,  so 
much  loved  hitherto,  were  made  on  all  sides  the 
objects  of  slanders  and  misrepresentations. 
Gertrude  Egede  saw  in  this  the  rebuke  of  God 
for  her  unbelief,  and,  confessing  her  fault  to  her 
husband,  solemnly  gave  herself  to  be  his  helper 
in  the  mission  field. 

Having  given  themselves  to  the  work,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Egede  thought  that  the  way  was  now  clear, 
but  delay  after  delay  was  sent  seemingly  to  try 
their  faith. 

In  May,  1721,  three  ships  with  colonists  and 
189 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

stores  left  Bergen  for  Greenland,  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Egede  and  their  four  children  standing  on  the 
deck  of  one,  waving  farewells  to  their  friends 
on  shore,  "she  with  a  cheerful  countenance," 
says  an  old  chronicler.  After  a  month's  voyage 
they  came  in  sight  of  land,  but  found  the  coast 
of  Greenland  so  much  blocked  with  ice  that  for 
three  weeks  they  sailed  round  it  without  finding 
an  opening.  In  endeavoring  to  land  they  were 
almost  shipwrecked,  but  at  last,  in  July,  effected 
a  landing  at  a  place  which  they  called  (not  in 
irony,  but  in  faith)  Hope  Island. 

Alas !  they  found  no  green  land  and  no  rem- 
nant of  a  Christian  church  left.  The  country 
was  bare  and  desolate ;  not  a  tree  or  shrub,  not 
even  a  blade  of  grass,  though  it  was  the  middle 
of  the  northern  summer.  The  people  of  Green- 
land were  diminutive  savages,  clothed  in  skins 
and  smeared  with  seal  oil,  whose  minds  and  bod- 
ies had  alike  been  dwarfed  by  an  ages-long  battle 
for  life  against  cold  and  hunger,  and  whose 
dwellings  were  more  like  enormous  ant-hills 
than  the  homes  of  human  beings.  At  first  they 
seemed  friendly,  but  when  they  found  that  the 
strangers  meant  to  remain  they  refused  them 
all  help.  Indeed,  as  time  passed,  they  seemed 
to  harden  their  hearts  more  and  more  against 
the  intruders ;  scoffing  at  the  men  who  came  to 
teach  other  people  and  did  not  themselves  know 

iqo 


GERTRUDE  EGEDE 

how  to  catch  a  seal,  and  bringing  their  wizards 
to  kill  off  the  colony  by  magic. 

But  what  the  wizards  could  not  do  by  magic 
seemed  only  too  likely  to  come  to  pass  by  natural 
means.  The  ship  which  carried  their  fishing 
tackle  had  been  lost  on  the  voyage.  When 
they  thawed  the  .soil  by  fire  and  planted  grain 
the  corn  perished  in  the  ear ;  sickness  broke  out 
among  the  colonists ;  hunger  stared  them  in 
the  face ;  they  were  ready  to  stone  the  Moses 
who  had  brought  them  into  this  wilderness, 
and  at  last  Egede  himself,  losing  hope,  con- 
sented to  embark  for  home  in  the  ship  which 
had  remained  with  them  f&r  the  winter.  The 
history  of  the  mission  would  have  ended  then 
but  that  Mrs.  Egede  stood  firm.  She  turned  to 
her  husband  and  said:  *'  Wait  a  little.  It  may 
be  that,  while  we  are  giving  way  to  doubt  and 
fear,  God's  providence  is  working  out  some  good 
for  us."  For  three  weeks  they  waited,  Mrs. 
Egede  comforting  her  children  by  promises 
of  help  at  hand.  Then  a  ship  arrived  bringing 
ample  stores,  with  letters  of  encouragement 
from  the  merchants  and  the  king,  and  colonists 
and  missionaries  took  heart  once  more. 

Then  Mrs.  Egede  did  wondrously ;  she  cheer- 
fully consented  that  her  husband  and  her  two 
boys  should  spend  the  winter  in  the  huts  of  the 
Greenlanders,  that  they  might  learn  their  lan- 
14  191 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

guage  and,  if  possible,  find  a  way  to  win  their 
friendship.  When  we  remember  that  the  hut 
of  a  Greenlander  is  like  a  great  beehive,  with- 
out ventilation,  heated  by  seal  oil,  shared  in 
common  by  two  or  more  families  with  their 
dogs,  and  altogether  inferior  to  a  pigsty,  we 
may  imagine  what  it  cost  her  to  let  them  go  on 
such  an  errand. 

In  the  summer,  when  the  natives  were  scat- 
tered over  their  hunting  and  fishing  grounds, 
Egede  from  time  to  time  organized  exploring 
parties,  and  Mrs.  Egede  was  left  alone  with 
her  children  in  sole  charge  of  the  colony.  We 
cannot  but  think  that  it  was  owing  to  her  care- 
ful husbanding  of  their  uncertain  supplies  that 
the  colony  did  not  perish  in  that  region  of  ice 
and  snow,  where  so  many  brave  men  have  per- 
ished since. 

It  was  not  till  1723  that  Egede  came  across 
any  relics  of  the  lost  church  of  which  he  had 
read  in  the  old  chronicle.  Sailing  up  Amerag- 
lik  Bay  he  found  in  a  beautiful  valley  the  ruins 
of  an  ancient  church  with  the  graves  of  the 
worshipers  about  it ;  but  no  living  representa- 
tives of  that  church  remained  in  Greenland. 

As  the  years  passed  they  brought  to  the  mis- 
sion household  many  sore  straits,  but  also  many 
wonderful  providences,  which  came  warm  to 
the  hearts  of  these  poor  people,  who,  forgotten 

192 


GERTRUDE  EGEDE 

often  by  the  merchants  of  Bergen  and  the  King 
of  Denmark,  were  yet  held  in  remembrance  by 
the  King  of  heaven.  In  1726,  when  Egede 
and  his  companions  were  like  to  perish  with 
hunger,  the  natives,  who  had  refused  to  trade 
with  them  or  help  them  before,  came,  like 
Elijah's  ravens,  and  brought  them  sufficient 
food  to  keep  them  alive  till  the  pinch  had 
passed.  Again,  when  the  ship  which  carried 
their  supplies  was  lost  on  the  voyage,  and  for  a 
time  "  eight  men  had  to  live  on  the  portion  of 
bread  that  would  have  sufficed  for  one,"  though 
Egede  had  to  take  a  voyage  of  two  hundred 
miles  to  procure  food  from  the  Dutch  whaling 
vessels,  and  Mrs.  Egede  and  her  children  were 
at  the  mercy  of  the  natives  and  starving  people, 
"not  one  had  power  to  lift  a  finger  against  her." 
In  1730  the  new  King  of  Denmark,  Christian 
VI,  being  advised  that  the  trading  colony  in 
Greenland  was  a  failure,  sent  ships  with  orders 
for  the  colonists  to  return  to  Denmark  forthwith, 
and  warned  Egede  that  if  he  remained,  he  would 
be  left  for  the  future  without  supplies.  Provi- 
dentially there  was  not  room  in  the  ships  for  all, 
so  a  few  (let  us  hope  the  best)  remained  for  a 
time,  and  for  three  years  Egede  and  his  wife 
worked  in  Greenland  almost  unsupported,  till  his 
health  failed  and  it  seemed  as  if  he  were  doomed 
to  lay  his  bones  in  that  barren  land. 

193 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

Then,  all  tmexpectedly,  a  vessel  arrived 
bringing  stores  and  money  and,  best  of  all, 
three  Moravian  missionaries,  who,  knowing 
nothing  of  Egede  or  his  work,  had  followed 
the  call  of  God  and  come  to  his  help  in  Green- 
land.    This  was  in  1733. 

It  warms  one's  heart  to  read  how  these  stran- 
gers were  received  by  Egede  and  his  brave 
wife.  They  helped  the  unlearned  men  to 
master  the  language,  they  shared  their  stores 
with  them,  and  they  joined  with  them  in 
prayer  that  God  would  soften  the  hard  hearts  of 
the  Greenlanders ;  for,  far  above  all  their  own 
trials  and  disappointments,  the  missionaries 
had  mourned  that  but  one  soul  had  been  given 
them  in  all  these  years.  As  at  first,  so  at  last, 
the  answers  came  in  a  way  which  they  had  not 
expected  nor  desired. 

A  few  months  after  the  arrival  of  the  Mora- 
vians smallpox  broke  out  among  the  natives, 
and  as  they  would  take  no  precautions,  it  spread 
with  frightful  rapidity.  Soon  the  houses  of  the 
missionaries  w^ere  filled  with  orphans  and  small- 
pox patients,  and  the  missionaries  themselves 
went  from  hut  to  hut  to  nurse  the  sick  and  bury 
the  dead.  What  it  was  to  do  this  in  the  stench 
of  a  Greenland  hut  we  can  hardly  imagine. 
For  a  year  the  scourge  lasted.  When  it  had 
passed  the  country  was  left  almost  depopulated. 

194 


GERTRUDE  EGEDE 

Then  the  faithful  wife,  who  had  shared  her 
husband's  labors  and  trials  for  fifteen  years, 
sickened  and  died.  She  did  not  live  to  see  the 
dawn  of  Gospel  light  in  Greenland. 

Two  or  three  years  after  her  death,  and  after 
Hans  Egede  had  left  the  country,  his  health 
quite  broken  down,  a  famine  broke  out  through 
the  failure  of  the  seal  fishing.  The  starving 
people  came  begging  food  of  the  Moravian  mis- 
sionaries. Among  these  came  one  who  asked 
permission  to  live  with  the  missionaries,  and  in 
payment  offered  to  give  them  all  the  fish  he 
caught.  This  man,  Mangek,  proved  an  earnest 
inquirer.  God's  work  of  grace  was  wrought  in 
his  heart,  and  the  missionaries  with  joy  and 
gratitude  heard  him  speak  of  the  love  of  Jesus 
until  the  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks.  Much 
faithful  teaching  and  many  earnest  prayers  on 
the  part  of  the  missionaries  were  followed  by 
other  conversions.  The  work  went  forward. 
Christian  settlements  sprang  up  here  and  there 
through  the  country,  and  at  the  present  day,  a 
century  and  a  half  after  the  death  of  Hans 
Egede  and  his  faithful  wife,  *'  Christianity  is 
everywhere  in  evidence,  the  old  barbarities  of 
heathenism  abolished,  and  in  their  place  the 
sweeter  manners  and  happier  spirit  of  the 
kingdom  of  God  are  seen." 

195 


THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 


MRS.  MURILLA  BAKER  INGALLS 

MRS.  INGALLS  met  her  husband  for  the 
first  time  at  a  missionary  meeting  at  Ra- 
cine, and  was  married  at  her  home  in  Eastport, 
Wis.,  in  December,  1850,  and  sailed  with  him 
for  Burma  July  10,  185  i. 

She  was  at  that  time  a  young,  vivacious,  and 
enthusiastic  woman,  whose  hair  still  hung  in 
long  dark  curls  all  around  her  head.  Some  peo- 
ple were  surprised  that  Mr.  Ingalls  should  select 
such  a  lively  and  brilliant  girl  to  return  with 
him  to  his  mission  field,  in  Arakan,  as  his 
wife. 

But  this  buoyant  disposition  which  paints 
everything  in  the  brightest  colors,  this  heart  all 
full  of  hope  and  joy,  has  been  of  incalculable 
service  in  the  arduous  life  of  the  missionary. 
She  herself  says :  ' '  This  cheerfulness  has  been 
the  only  thing  which  has  made  me  of  use  in  the 
missionary  service.  The  truth  is,  I  cannot  be 
discouraged.  I  never  knew  what  it  was  to  be 
disappointed  in  my  missionary  life.  There  have 
often  been  varying  delays,  but  no  real  disap- 
pointment." 

In  this  spirit  she  began  to  assist  her  husband 
at  Akyab  in  1852;  from  there  they  went  to 
Rangoon  in   1854,   and  in  less  than  two  years 

196 


MRS.   MURILLA  BAKER  INGALLS 

she  stood  beside  the  grave  of  the  husband,  who 
with  his  dying  breath  intreated  her  not  to  give 
up  missionary  work,  but  to  do  what  she  could 
for  "  the  poor  Burmans." 

She  came  to  America  in  1857  to  bring  her 
husband's  daughter  home  to  be  educated,  and 
returned  to  Burma  in  1859  i^  ^^e  same  ship 
which  carried  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Tolman  to  Assam, 
and  commenced  work  at  the  Thongzai  Station. 

Since  that  time  she  has  made  her  home  in 
Thongzai.  She  at  once  took  charge  of  the  mis- 
sion. The  little  church  and  its  native  pastor 
depended  upon  her  for  everything  except 
preaching.  She  visited  districts  where  no  white 
woman  had  ever  been  seen,  and  with  her  native 
assistants  made  long  evangelizing  tours  into  the 
jungle.  She  superintended  the  building  of  the 
little  church,  and  later  saw  that  the  pastor  had  a 
comfortable  pansonage.  This  church  Mrs.  In- 
galls  has  used  as  seed  from  which  to  plant  the 
Gospel  in  all  the  surrounding  country.  Through 
her  labors  other  churches  were  formed  in  neigh- 
boring villages,  colporteurs  were  sent  out  into 
the  jungle,  Sunday  schools  were  formed,  and 
modest  chapels  were  built  in  the  jungle  hamlets. 
At  one  time  she  wrote :  ' '  I  have  ten  preachers 
under  my  care.  All  send  or  bring  me  a  monthly 
report  of  their  work.  I  have  a  meeting  each 
Saturday  morning  for  workers  in  the  vicinity. 

197 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

I  have  four  colporteurs,  whom  I  send  on  trips 
or  to  work  among  the  heathen.  They  attend 
funerals,  give  books,  and  discuss  doctrine,  but 
are  not  able  to  perform  pulpit  duties.  The  lay- 
men and  their  families  do  much  colportage 
work.  Each  man  and  woman  free  from  disease 
and  care  of  infants  is  expected  to  make  some 
trips  for  special  teaching  among  the  heathen. 
There  are  also  Bible  women  and  school-teachers 
who  come  to  the  ' '  mamma  "  for  direction.  This 
Thongzai  church  has  a  home  mission  which  has 
sent  at  least  one  of  its  members  to  the  regions 
beyond." 

The  superintending  of  all  these  operations  of 
the  church  is  but  the  beginning  of  Mrs.  Ingalls's 
labors.  The  needs  of  the  heathen  around  de- 
mand all  her  powers.  Her  field  lies  among  the 
Burmans,  who  are  much  more  difficult  of  access 
than  the  Karens.  She  attempts  to  draw  them 
to  hear  the  Gospel.  At  the  very  outset  she 
erected  a  shed  in  the  market-place,  hung  it  round 
with  Bible  pictures,  and,  with  her  native  help- 
ers, talked  to  all  whose  curiosity  led  them  to 
visit  her.  In  her  house  the  most  prominent 
room  is  called  "  The  Burman  Room."  Its 
doors  are  open  from  dawn  to  bedtime  to  all  re- 
spectable people.  The  walls  are  hung  with 
maps  and  pictures ;  books  and  all  kinds  of  use- 
ful curiosities  abound.     Her  little  study  opens 

J98 


MRS.  MURILLA  BAKER  INGALLS 

into  this  room,  so  she  can  step  in  at  any  time 
to  help  her  assistants,  to  explain,  argue,  or  in- 
struct. Here  come  the  Bible  women  and 
preachers  to  teach  new  converts  in  Bible  doc- 
trine. Hither  all  day  long  come  people  to  ask 
questions  or  to  listen.  In  fact,  the  Burman 
Room  is  the  center  of  far-reaching  influence. 

Mrs.  Ingalls  has  had  a  wonderful  power  in 
convincing  Buddhist  priests  of  the  truth  of 
Christianity.  Her  article  in  the  Baptist  Mission- 
ary Magazine  ior  November,  1893,  and  also  one 
in  May,  1894,  will  tell  the  story  of  this  work  in 
her  owm  words.  She  says  that  she  has  been 
permitted  to  see  nearly  a  hundred  priests  come 
out  on  the  side  of  Christianity,  of  whom  many 
have  become  earnest  Christian  men,  some  of 
them  faithful  preachers. 

In  1877  the  railroad  from  Rangoon  reached 
Thongzai.  It  ruined  for  a  time  the  beauty  of 
the  umbrageous  village,  cut  up  the  gardens, 
and  established  Hindus  and  Chinese  in  the 
Burman  houses.  But  it  had  its  compensations. 
Mrs.  Ingalls  saw  here  an  opportunity  to  begin 
a  new  line  of  work  in  giving  books  and  tracts 
at  the  depots  and  in  the  railway  carriages.  Her 
preacher  gave  out  sixty  to  eighty  tracts  each 
morning.  The  Bible  Society  sent  English  Bi- 
bles, and  she  distributed  tracts  in  their  own 
language   to   the    English,    French,    Burmans, 

199 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

Shans,  Hindus,  and  Karens.  Soon  she  had  a 
library  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  volumes  and 
a  reading  room  in  the  depot  at  Thongzai.  These 
were  for  the  use  of  the  employees  of  the  rail- 
road. In  the  depots  at  other  places  on  the  line 
she  has  established  ''branch  libraries,"  and 
placed  tract  distributors.  On  her  occasional 
visits  of  inspection  to  these  libraries  she  takes 
with  her  a  staff  of  native  workers,  and  makes 
her  stay  the  occasion  of  missionary  work  among 
the  heathen.  At  times  she  has  had  socials  and 
lectures  in  the  libraries  for  the  railway  men. 

In  reading  the  published  letters  from  her 
graphic  pen  one  is  amazed  to  see  how  everyone 
w4th  whom  she  comes  in  contact  contributes  to- 
ward her  work.  Now  a  Buddhist  priest  gives 
her  a  garden  in  which  to  hold  schools.  Again, 
she  wants  a  "  zayat,"  just  outside  the  mis- 
sion grounds,  for  a  preaching  place,  and  its 
owner  promptly  turns  it  over  to  her.  From 
America  friends  send  money  to  support  her 
preachers  and  Bible  women,  besides  books,  and 
even  spectacles,  that  her  aged  Christians  may 
still  read  the  word  of  God.  The  English  gov- 
ernment and  the  railway  officials  help  on  her 
libraries,  and  even  the  heathen  contribute  to- 
ward her  tract  distribution.  She  seems  irresist- 
ible w^hen  she  needs  anything  to  further  her 
Master's  work. 


MRS.   MURILLA  BAKER  INGALLS 

This  is  but  an  imperfect  sketch  of  the  work 
of  one  woman  who  in  a  thousand  ways  has 
proved  herself  worthy  of  the  great  responsibili- 
ties that  have  been  laid  upon  her.  Her  enthu- 
siasm, her  faith,  her  active  zeal,  have  been 
daunted  by  no  difficulties ;  and  now,  after  more 
than  forty  years  of  work  in  Burma,  she  is  still 
unwearied  in  labors  for  the  heathen  and  the 
stay  and  the  counselor  of  the  band  of  believers, 
who  regard  her  as  their  mother  in  Christ. — 
Life  and  Light. 

Dr.  J.  N.  Murdock  said  of  her:  *'  Yet  so  deli- 
cate is  this  woman's  sense  of  the  proprieties  of 
her  sex  that  you  could  scarcely  induce  her  to 
stand  on  a  public  platform  and  face  a  mixed 
audience,  even  though  she  might  not  be  called 
upon  to  speak.  A  real  overseer  and  leader  of  a 
numerous  Christian  flocks  she  does  her  work 
mostly  in  private,  satisfied  if  she  can  only  see 
her  teachings  reproduced  in  the  public  sermons 
and  lectures  of  her  native  helpers,  and  bearing 
fruit  in  the  lives  of  her  people." 

20I 


THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB 


MISS  BEULAH  WOOLSTON 

MISS  BEULAH  WOOLSTON  was  born 
near  Vincentown,  N.  J.,  August  3,  1828, 
and  died  at  Mt.  Holly,  N.  J.,  October  24,  1886. 
She  was  nurtured  in  a  Christian  home,  and  was 
converted  and  tniited  with  the  church  when 
about  fifteen  years  old.  After  receiving  pre- 
liminary education  in  her  native  place  she  went 
with  Miss  Sarali  H.  Woolston,  her  sister  and 
her  life  associate  in  home  and  work,  to  the 
Wesleyan  Female  College,  at  Wilmington,  Del., 
where  she  was  graduated  with  honor  from  both 
English  and  classical  departments.  She  after- 
ward taught  for  some  years  in  the  college,  and 
while  thus  engaged  responded  to  the  call  for 
missionary  teachers  in  our  China  Mission.  The 
sisters  sailed  for  China,  with  other  missionaries, 
October  4,  1858.  After  a  voyage  of  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-seven  days  around  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope  they  landed  at  Shanghai  February 
27,  1859,  ^'^'^^  reached  Foo-Chow  March  19. 

Their  special  work  was  to  organize  and  super- 
intend a  boarding  school  for  Chinese  girls  under 
the  auspices  of  the  China  Female  Missionary 
Society  of  Baltimore.  The  sisters  were  sent 
out  by  the  parent  board  of  our  Church,  but 
their  school  was  supported  by  the    Baltimore 


MISS  BEULAH  WOOLSTON 

Society.  After  the  organization  of  our  Woman's 
Foreign  Missionary  Society  their  work  was  con- 
nected with  it.  During  their  twenty-five  years' 
faithful  service  they  returned  to  this  country 
twice  for  rest  and  to  recruit.  In  December, 
1883,  much  broken  in  health,  both  returned 
for  the  last  time.  At  times  Miss  Beulah  seemed 
to  improve,  but  she  proved  to  be  in  a  very  pre- 
carious state,  though  no  immediate  fatal  result 
was  anticipated.  On  Monday  evening,  October 
24,  she  grew  much  w^orse,  and  ere  her  loving 
and  devoted  sister  had  time  to  realize  the  dan- 
ger, she  had,  with  scarcely  a  struggle,  fallen 
asleep  in  Jesus. 

And  now  wdiat  can  I  say  of  Miss  Beulah 
Woolston's  work  for  humanity  and  Christ? 
Those  who  have  entered  into  the  labors  of  their 
sister  workers  can  never  know  all  it  cost,  in  those 
early  days  of  '59,  to  overcome  the  natural  prej- 
udices of  the  people,  emphasized  by  the  wrongs 
done  them  by  foreign  traders,  and  the  lack  of 
books,  maps,  charts — even  a  home — for  the  now 
well-established  school.  But  ^liss  Beulah's 
faith  never  wavered ;  patiently,  quietly,  and 
determinedly  one  obstacle  after  another  was 
overcome,  until  these  sisters  could  rejoice  in  a 
well-organized,  thoroughly-conducted  Christian 
school  as  the  result  of  their  labors.  When 
Bishop  Burdon,  of  the  Church  of  England,  vis- 

203 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

ited  the  school  some  years  ago  he  only  echoed 
the  words  of  others  when  he  declared  it  to  be 
the  best-conducted  girls'  school  in  China.  And 
well  we  know  its  effect  upon  the  lives  of  those 
trained  in  it.  It  was  literally  true,  as  one  said, 
''  Wherever  in  our  work  we  find  one  of  the 
Misses  Woolston's  scholars,  either  as  teacher  or 
wife  and  mother,  she  is  a  marked  character  for 
good  in  the  place."  Hii  King  Eng  is  a  gradu- 
ate of  that  school,  and  in  her  beautiful  character 
is  exemplifying  the  teachings  she  received  for 
years  from  these  sisters. 

Their  great  aim  was  to  fi.ll  the  few  years  the 
girls  could  remain  with  them  with  just  such  in- 
struction as  would  make  them  useful  Christian 
women  in  their  own  homes  and  in  the  spheres 
they  must  occupy  in  life,  feeling  that  they 
could  not  conscientiously  give  time  to  teach 
anything  that  could  be  of  no  possible  use  to 
them  in  the  future,  and  that  might  be  an  occa- 
sion of  temptation  and  sin.  In  addition  to  the 
care  of  tiiis  school,  hundreds  of  women  visited 
them  at  their  home  and  were  always  received 
with  Christian  courtesy  and  teaching;  every 
effort  being  made  to  utilize  their  visits  to  sow 
seeds  of  divine  truth  in  dark  souls.  The  care 
of  the  school  was  not  only  that  which  is  usually 
demanded  at  home,  but  also  the  providing  of 
many  of  the  girls  with  clothing ;   teaching  them 

204 


MISS  BEULAH  WOOLSTON 

to  make   their  own,  to  cook,  wash,  and  all  the 
details  for  the  -education  of  good  housewives. 

Even  vacation  days  were  not  free  from  care, 
as  they  had  to  provide  homes  for  many  of  the 
girls  during  the  time.  They  also  established  a 
number  of  day  schools  at  different  and  often 
distant  points  in  our  work,  which  they  visited 
regularly,  and  often  at  great  inconvenience  and 
exposure  to  themselves.  With  all  of  this  work 
they  found  time  for  literary  work — preparation 
and  translation  of  schoolbooks  and  the  editing 
of  the  CJiihVs  Illustrated  Paper  in  Chinese — and 
also  to  observe  the  apostle's  injunction,  not 
failing  in  hospitality,  their  delightful  home 
being  opened  to  all ;  and  those  of  us  to  wdiom 
sickness  and  death  came  can  truly  testify  to 
their  loving  ministrations  and  helpful  sympathy 
in  our  times  of  need.  Only  loving  hearts,  will- 
ing hands,  and  consecrated  lives  could  have 
accomplished  the  work  of  these  dear  sisters, 
and  in  writing  of  this  work  I  am  utterly  unable 
to  vSeparate  them.  It  was  such  a  united  work, 
pursued  in  such  perfect  love  and  harmony,  that 
it  was  as  if  one  mind,  one  heart,  one  pair  of 
hands  were  doing  it.  That  there  were  marked 
traits  of  character  in  ^liss  Beulah  Woolston  all 
will  concede  who  knew  her :  A  steady  faith  in 
God  and  the  final  success  of  his  work,  love  for 
humanity,  pity  for  the  needy,  sympathy  for  the 

205 


"THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB" 

suffering,  an  ever-ready  bounty  for  those  in 
want;  no  hut  too  mean  for  her  to  enter,  no 
soul  too  degraded  for  her  to  attempt  to  save ; 
charity  for  all,  criticism  for  none  ;  always  cred- 
iting her  associates  in  the  work  with  conscien- 
tious endeavor  to  do  their  best,  feeling  that 
each  had  his  or  her  work  with  which  she  had 
no  right  to  interfere — traits  especially  valuable 
in  a  missionary ;  fidelity  to  all  good,  a  shrinking 
from  all  evil,  and  through  all  her  life  that  quiet 
dignity  that  seemed  to  be  the  outcome  of  an 
abiding  peace  within. 

A  dear  friend  of  the  American  Board,  at 
Foo-Chow,  a  missionary  of  thirty  years'  service, 
an  able,  clear-headed,  devoted  woman,  said  to 
me  years  ago,  *'I  have  known  Miss  Beulah 
Woolston  eleven  years  and  I  have  never  known 
her  to  speak  a  word  or  perform  an  act  that  was 
not  just  right."  I  have  known  her  for  over 
twenty  years,  and  my  testimony  must  be  the 
same.  Her  charity  was  unbounded;  in  all  my 
long  acquaintance  with  her  I  never  heard  her 
speak  an  uncharitable  or  detracting  word  of 
another.  She  did  blessed  work  for  the  suffer- 
ing poor,  but  we  only  knew  of  it  as  we  might 
follow  her  and  hear  it  incidentally.  I  shall 
never  forget  a  scene  that  occurred  in  our  Tieng 
ang  Tong  (Heavenly  Rest  Church)  at  Foo-Chow 
one  Sunday  morning.     The  services  had  com- 

206 


MISS  BEULAH  WOOLSTON 

menced,  when  an  aged  woman,  walking  with 
bound  two-inch  feet  and  leaning  on  a  cane,  ad- 
vanced slowly  up  the  aisle,  looking  eagerly  for 
some  one.  Miss  Beulah  was  on  a  front  side 
seat.  The  moment  the  woman  caught  sight  of 
her  the  worn,  aged  face  grew  glad  and  bright, 
and  stooping  hastily  forward,  she  dropped  on 
her  knees  before  Miss  Beulah  as  if  in  worship. 
Miss  Woolston,  greatly  embarrassed,  hastened 
to  assist  her  to  rise  and  take  a  seat  beside  her. 
Some  of  us  knew  the  reason  of  this  love  and 
devotion.  And  so  I  might  multiply  but  not 
exhaust  the  record  of  Christian  devotion  and 
kindness  to  the  needy,  as  well  as  wise  and  loving 
instruction  of  the  young.  Who  can  measure 
the  results  of  such  a  life?  Its  influence  goes 
on  and  on  in  multiplying  powers  through  time 
and  into  eternity. 

Neither  our  parent  board  nor  our  Woman's 
Missionary  Society  ever  had  a  more  faithful, 
devoted,  or  successful  worker  than  Miss  Beu- 
lah Woolston.  Leading  the  van  of  Methodist 
women  in  the  East,  her  work  was  well  done, 
and  the  call  to  her  heavenly  home  found  her 
ready.  Some  of  us  mourn  for  her  as  a  be- 
loved friend,  and  those  of  us  who  were  inti- 
mately associated  with  her  in  the  early  days  of 
work  and  trial  feel  her  departure  with  special 
sorrow.  Others  of  our  early  workers  have  pre- 
15  207 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH   FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

ceded  her,  and  ere  long  the  rest  will  follow,  and 
there  will  be  a  glad  reunion  of  the  workers 
abroad  and  at  home ;  methinks  that  then  it 
will  indeed  be  an  exceeding  joy  to  have  had 
even  the  smallest  part  in  the  blessed  work  of 
giving  the  Gospel  to  the  neediest  of  earth. 

This  imperfect  but  sincere  tribute  of  love  I 
offer  to  the  memory  of  one  who,  to  me,  was  as 
near  perfection  in  life  and  in  beauty  of  char- 
acter as  is  possible  to  humanity. — Mrs.  Dr.  S.  L. 
Baldwin^  in  Woinaii  s  Missionary  Friend. 

208 


MISS    CLARA    A.    SWAIN.    M.D. 


CLARA  A.  SWAIN,  M.D. 

CLARA  A.  SWAIN,  M.D. 

First  Medical  Woman  in  Asia — An  Epoch 

DR.  CLARA  A.  SWAIN  enjoys  the  honor- 
able distinction  of  being  not  only  the 
pioneer  woman  physician  in  India,  but  the  first 
fully  accredited  woman  physician  ever  sent  out 
by  any  missionary  society  into  any  part  of  the 
n  on -Christian  world. 

Miss  Swain  was  born  in  the  city  of  Elmira, 
N.  Y.,  in  1834,  but  at  an  early  age  her  parents 
removed  to  the  pretty  village  of  Castile,  Wyo- 
ming County,  N.  Y.,  which  has  ever  since  been 
her  home.  She  was  self-educated,  and  devoted 
several  years  to  the  work  of  teaching  in  the  town 
of  Canandaigua,  N.  Y.  It  was  during  her  resi- 
dence here  that  she  decided  to  be  a  physician. 
This  was  at  a  time  when  the  medical  profession 
for  women  was  not  considered  very  desirable. 
Her  preparatory  study  was  with  Dr.  Cornelia 
Green,  of  the  well-known  sanitarium  in  Castile. 
From  there  she  went  to  Philadelphia  and  com- 
pleted her  course  at  the  Woman's  Medical  College 
in  that  city  in  the  spring  of  1869.  From  early 
childhood  she  had  a  desire  to  become  a  mission- 
ary, and  speedily  after  her  graduation  this  de- 
sire was  fulfilled. 

Mrs.  D.  W.  Thomas,  who  had  for  some  time 


"  THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH  FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 

been  at  the  head  of  the  girls'  orphanage  in 
Bareilly,  North  India,  in  connection  with  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  saw  and  felt  the 
great  need  of  a  woman  physician,  and  made  an 
urgent  plea  that  if  such  a  person  could  be  found, 
she  be  sent  out  for  the  orphanage.  This  plea 
was  presented  to  the  Woman's  Union  Mission- 
ary Society  by  the  writer,  who  opened  a  cor- 
respondence with  Miss  Swain  concerning  this 
new  and  important  opening. 

The  Woman's  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  meantime 
had  been  organized,  and  Miss  Swain  preferred 
going  out  under  the  auspices  of  this  society. 
She  fully  considered  the  proposition,  and  after 
three  months  of  thought  and  prayer  she  decided 
on  going  to  India.  She  made  her  preparations 
and  sailed  November  3,  1869,  arriving  in  Ba- 
reilly January  20,  1870.  She  received  from 
the  missionaries  a  very  warm  welcome,  and 
every  possible  facility  was  afforded  her  for 
opening  and  developing  her  new  and  respon- 
sible work.  Those  who  were  watching  the 
movement  at  home  wondered  if  the  doors  so 
long  barred  would  open  to  the  touch  of  a 
stranger,  and  the  prejudice  of  ages  give  way  to 
the  ministrations  of  a  woman  of  another  na- 
tionality. She  commenced  her  work  by  estab- 
lishing  a   dispensary    and    forming   a  medical 

212 


CLARA  A.  SWAIN,   M.D. 

class  of  fourteen  girls,  and  she  was  called  at 
once  to  visit  women  and  children  of  all  classes 
of  society,  treating  in  her  first  six  weeks  one 
hundred  and  eight  patients. 

Next  came  the  necessity  for  a  hospital,  which 
was  met  by  the  gift  from  a  native  Mohammed- 
an prince  of  a  property  worth  some  fifteen 
thousand  dollars.  Repairs  were  made  on  the 
house,  and  on  January  i,  1874,  the  first  hospital 
for  the  women  of  the  Orient  was  open  and  ready 
to  receive  patients.  Auspicious  day !  Like 
*'  doves  to  their  windows  "  flocked  the  women  to 
hospital  and  dispensary — Hindus,  Mohammed- 
ans, and  Christians.  Cards  were  printed  in 
three  different  languages,  each  bearing  a  verse 
of  the  blessed  Bible,  so  that  every  patient  re- 
ceived with  her  prescription  some  word  about 
the  great  Healer  of  souls.  The  women  were 
captured.  ''May  I  not  come  here  and  stay 
a  while  every  year,  even  if  I  am  not  sick?  "  said 
one  of  the  patients.  "  Let  me  stay,"  said  an- 
other, ''for  I  would  like  to  walk  out  in  this 
beautiful  garden.  I  cannot  walk  out  at  home, 
for  if  I  do,  my  friends  say  I  am  very  bad."  The 
work  so  auspiciously  inaugurated  commanded 
the  attention  of  other  missionary  societies,  and 
the  trained  woman  physician  has  become  a 
necessity  in  every  fully-equipped  mission  in 
India. 

213 


THESE  ARE  THEY  WHICH   FOLLOW  THE  LAMB  " 


In  addition  to  her  great  medical  work  Miss 
Swain  held  meetings  on  the  Sabbath  with  the 
women,  and  embraced  every  opportunity  to  be 
a  bearer  of  good  tidings.  But  this  great  pres- 
sure told  upon  her  health.  The  work  had 
passed  the  experimental  stage,  and  in  1875, 
after  six  years  of  increasing  toil,  she  returned 
home  ~  for  a  much-needed  rest.  After  more 
than  tliree  years  in  the  homeland  she  returned 
to  her  chosen  field  and  took  up  again  the  work 
she  had  reluctantly  laid  down.  vShe  soon  had 
all  she  could  do,  and  in  1883  over  eight  thousand 
patients  were  treated.  After  fifteen  years  of  lov- 
ing and  devoted  service  in  the  society  Miss  Swain 
received  a  call  from  a  native  prince,  the  Rajah 
of  Khetri,  which  after  careful  consideration  she 
accepted.  Taking  with  her  a  Christian  teacher, 
she  remained  for  some  time  professionally  treat- 
ingthe  wife  of  the  Mohammedan  prince,  and  then 
was  invited  to  become  physician  to  the  women 
of  the  palace  and  to  open  a  dispensary  for 
women  and  children  of  the  city  and  surrounding 
country.  She  was  permitted  to  open  a  school 
for  girls,  and  the  friend  who  accompanied  her 
was  allowed  to  teach  the  prince's  wife  and  some 
of  the  coui't  women.  Of  her  experiences  at  this 
time  Miss  Swain  wrote:  '*  We  brought  a  quan- 
tity of  religious  books,  parts  of  the  Bible,  and 
our   hymn    books,  all  in    the   Hindustani    lan- 

214 


CLARA  A.  SWAIN,   M.D. 

guage,  and  as  we  have  opportunity  we  distribute 
them.  I  suppose  there  are  more  than  thirty 
persons  singing  our  hymns  here  already,  for 
we  have  taught  them  to  every  one  who  would 
learn.  Some  of  them  take  wonderfully,  and 
the  singing  women  in  the  palace  sing  them  to 
her  highness  every  evening. 

*'The  rajah  and  his  wife  have  only  one 
child,  a  little  girl  two  years  and  a  half  old,  and 
she  has  learned  to  sing  parts  of  several  hymns, 
and  sings  them  sweetly.  Her  highness  says 
our  songs  are  much  purer  than  theirs  and  she 
likes  them  better.  What  an  opportunity  for 
good  this  is !  for  some  of  their  songs  are  very 
vulgar,  and  we  would  not  think  of  listening  to 
them.  Our  hymns  reach  every  woman  in  the 
palace,  and  they  are  sometimes  sung  to  his 
highness.  We  often  find  that  we  can  sing 
Christianity  to  these  people  when  we  cannot 
preach  it.  This  is  an  opportunity  such  as  no 
one  of  our  missionaries  has  had  before,  of  car- 
rying the  Gospel  into  the  very  heart  of  native 
royalty." 

In  1896  Miss  Swain  was  compelled  to  aban- 
don the  work  she  loved  so  well,  and  at  this 
writing  (1898)  is  quietly  settled  in  a  home  of  her 

own  in  the  town  of  Castile,  N.  Y. 

215 


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